RWBY: The Chorus Chronicle
by Raging Archon
Summary: With Team RWBY hot on his trail, Torchwick moves to desperate measures to ensure the success of his latest scheme. But when the plan backfires, RWBY find themselves on an alien world filled with armoured men and women. Their only hope of returning home lies in the planets heroes, the Reds and Blues! In short, they're screwed. Rated M for language and violence.
1. You Ever Wonder?

**Hello fellow author's, this here is my first fan-fic. I've had this idea for a while now and thought I might as well post it, so without further ado, here is RWBY: The Chorus Chronicle!**

 **Chapter one: You Ever Wonder?**

 _BREAKING NEWS:- Infamous criminal, Roman Torchwick, has escaped Police Custody and is now on the loose! Roman Torchwick was en route to court to stand trial for his actions in a train crash two weeks ago that allowed the horrifying Grimm into the city of Vale, killing hundreds, when the transport carrying him was ambushed by White Fang terrorists. If you have any information regarding Roman Torchwicks whereabouts, then please contact Police immediately!_

Team RWBY rushed through the Forever Falls as they followed the trail of infamous criminal, Roman Torchwick. They moved like a blur, the Grimm paying no attention to the four Huntresses in training. Torchwick had already caused devastation once in their precious city, and they wouldn't allow that monster to ruin any more lives!

"You think we'll get some sort of reward for this?" Yang asked, gaining a questioning look from her team-mates.

"What do you mean?" Blake enquired, wondering what her partner was talking about.

"I mean like, a bounty or something, ya know? It's not everyday we track a criminal down." Yang replied.

"If we find him." Blake reminded her partner. Both the VPD and Atlas military had failed to track him down, if they couldn't do it, what chance did they have?

"Quiet you two! Are you trying to attract every Grimm in a mile wide radius?" Weiss hissed, internally sighing at her partners incompetence.

All Yang did was roll her eyes as the four huntresses continued to follow the trail, going ever deeper into the Forever Falls.

The group had been running for some time when suddenly team leader Ruby Rose held her hand up to signal the group to stop. Weiss, Blake and Yang looked in confusion as Ruby stared somewhat menacingly into the distance.

"What is it?" Weiss whispered, her hand reaching for Myrtenaster.

"It's quiet...too quiet..." was all Ruby said as she stared into the distance, her eyes fixated on a pair of bushes that seemingly went on forever.

"That's so cheesy..." Yang groaned, the others nodding in agreement.

"Seriously guys, listen. What do you hear?" Ruby said, turning to her friends.

The team stopped and listened. Ruby was right, it was too quiet. No birds, no bees, no critters, not even a lousy Grimm could be heard. Weiss was the first to speak.

"So?" she asked, raising her eyebrow at Ruby. Ruby's reply was to simply walk over to the bushes and pull them back slightly.

Weiss, Blake and Yang walked to the opening and found themselves in shock. Right in front of them was the largest archaeological dig-site they had ever seen! Granted, they hadn't seen many dig-sites, but this one sure was gargantuan. The architecture was unfamiliar and probably dated back before the first recordings of man, if such a thing was possible.

"HOW!? HOW HAS NO-ONE REPORTED THIS TO THE NEWS!?" Weiss shouted, quickly being silenced by the entirety of her team.

"It probably has something to do with that." Blake stated, pointing to a patch of land near the entrance of the building. Weiss's eyes followed her finger, to find at least four Bull-Heads parked on the land, each one adorned in weaponry and the insignia of the White Fang.

"This has to be the place!" Ruby said, kneeling to grab a nearby stick which she then proceeded to use as a pencil.

"Ruby, the White Fang have thousands of potential safe houses to use, how can you be so sure?" Blake asked while Ruby continued to draw in the dirt.

"I just know it, trust me!" Ruby quickly replied, the dirt drawing seemingly taking on the appearance of the alien structure.

"Even if it is, how are we going to get in undetected? There could be around fifty or more White Fang in there!" Blake continued to ask, while Yang and Weiss nodded in agreement.

"Relax, we have one advantage over them." Ruby stated. The rest of the team looked at her in confusion, with Ruby giving off her a mischievous smile.

"The element of surprise."

Roman Torchwick looked on at the alien structure before him and smiled. After months of setbacks and a short time in jail, the pieces of the plan were beginning to fall together. Soon, the whole of Vale and the rest of Remnant would be at his mercy. With a single push of a button, he can send them all back to the dark ages unless they give into his demands! Not even Cinder would be safe from his wrath and he will make her the puppet, not him. Torchwick was immediately alerted to the electronic door opening. He turned to find one of the mutts from the White Fang walking towards him.

"Sir, our scouts have reported in!" The grunt stated in an almost mechanical voice.

"Well, spit it out! I don't have all day!" Roman replied, catching the grunt slightly off guard.

"It's team RWBY sir, they've found us!"

What! Impossible, Roman thought to himself. The VPD and Atlas military had failed to find them, so how did four ridiculously dressed school girls find them!

"I thought you said we couldn't be traced!" Roman seethed, his lips curling into a snarl.

"They must have found a loop-hole, sir!" the grunt quickly replied, a hint of fear in his voice.

Roman turned and walked towards the artefact in the centre of the room and placed a hand on its metallic face.

"Is the Disrupter ready to fire yet?" Roman asked, turning slightly.

"Yes sir, but the charging time will take too long." The grunt replied, returning to his calm state.

Roman's snarl soon began to curl into a sinister smile as he removed his hand from the device.

"Perhaps the plan can be salvaged after all," was all Roman said before turning to the grunt "prepare a little 'welcome party' for our guests..."

Ruby rushed towards the entrance of the structure, taking cover in the shadows. She looked around before whistling, signalling her team-mates into the shadows. Ruby activated Crescent Rose, using the scope of the scythe-sniper hybrid weapon to look for any guards in the area.

"Huh," Ruby said, confusion clearly written on her face.

"What is it, sis?" Yang asked as she activated Ember Cilica while Weiss and Blake unsheathed Myrtenaster and Gambol Shroud respectively.

"There are no guards, that's odd..." Ruby replied, lowering her weapon before activating its Scythe form.

"I don't like this at all, it could be a trap." Weiss warned, looking around for any White Fang that could be watching.

"Oh come on Weiss, loosen up a little. What fun is life without a little danger every now and then?" Yang snickered, walking calmly towards the entrance with Ruby and Blake following close behind.

"It's a lot safer for starters..." Weiss muttered to herself as she followed the rest of her team to the structure. Before them all was a large doorway that was at least two metres high and five metres wide. Judging from the quality of the material and the numerous scorch marks dancing around the edge, no-one was getting in there quickly through destructive means.

"Hmm, perhaps we could hack our way in..." Weiss said, taking a sudden interest in the nearby control panel.

"You should upload a virus into the mainframe! I heard ones with a skull and crossbones work the best!" Yang suggested with an upraised finger.

"That isn't how it works you dolt!" Weiss hissed, causing Yang to snicker slightly.

"How long will it take?" Ruby asked, tightening her grip on Crescent Rose.

"I don't know, an hour at the least, but we could be here for days or-" Weiss was quickly cut off by a large grinding noise as the doors to the structure suddenly opened, revealing a well lit and straight forward corridor.

"Nice work Weiss!" Ruby cheerfully said before entering, followed by Yang and Blake.

"Uh, that wasn't me..." was all Weiss said as she followed her team-mates into the structure.

For a while they simply wandered the seemingly abandoned structure, coming across multiple pictures of armoured reptilian creatures wielding strange swords.

"I've never seen anything like this before..." Weiss whispered, gently touching one of the many engravings, this particular one being of one of the armoured reptiles atop a pile of Grimm corpses whilst wielding a whip of some sort, his arms raised in victory.

"It's tremendously well preserved." Blake chimed in, looking at awe at the detailed pictures.

"Guys, over here!" Ruby shouted. Her team-mates walked over to find themselves looking at the entrance to a large circular room. The room itself was almost big enough to fit ten Ursa Majors inside and still have enough room to fit more. But it was the centre piece that caught their eyes, for in the centre was a large pylon like structure that seemed to be attracting all the electricity in the room into it's hidden core. Attached to it was a control panel that seemed to be flashing a bright red.

The four huntresses entered the room, staring in awe at the metal device.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, her team offering no answer.

"That is an excellent question Red!"

The huntresses turned to source of the voice and saw Roman Torchwick standing at the other side of the room, a previously hidden door behind wide open. He twirled Melodic Cudgel in his right hand while a smug smile spread across his face.

Team RWBY quickly recovered from their initial shock and entered a combat stance.

"Torchwick!" Blake seethed, her grip on Gambol Shroud tightening.

Torchwick merely laughed at the four girls attempt to intimidate him as he calmly walked forward towards the control panel, the huntresses edging closer as well.

"Oh please ladies, drop the weapons so we can have a formal discussion without the bloodshed." Torchwick said, still walking towards the panel.

"I don't think so!" Blake growled, nearly leaving the rest of her team to take on the criminal by herself.

"Oh, but I thought you would have been more open to peaceful talks seeing as we have you outnumbered." Torchwick calmly stated, placing both hands on Melodic Cudgel.

"Really? Because from where I'm standing, we outmatch you! There are four of us and only one of you." Yang said, gesturing to herself and Torchwick.

"Actually, there are fifty of us and four of you!" Roman sneered, his smug smile turning malicious as he tapped his cane on the ground. Almost immediately, the door behind RWBY closed as multiple White Fang entered the room from the door behind Torchwick, forming a tight semi circle around the team.

"So, now will we talk peacefully?" Torchwick asked again.

"What is that thing?" Weiss demanded, pointing at the device behind Torchwick with Myrtenaster.

"Glad you asked princess!" Roman chuckled, earning a growl from Weiss. "This device here is an artefact of alien origin from a time long gone. The original purpose was unknown, but we found it was very capable of generating Electro Magnetic Pulses. After overriding its safety protocols and defence system, we have generated the weapon of the future, today!" Roman explained, walking closer to the control panel.

"How is that gonna help you, making a pretty and harmful pulse?" Ruby asked.

"Well Red, while it may be harmless, it WILL shut down all electronic equipment in Vale, including that of a certain city hall where all the representatives of Remnant are meeting at this very moment." Roman replied, the grin on his face turning more into a sneer.

"So?" was all that Yang could say, not seeing the point of Torchwicks 'dastardly' plan.

"Yang, it will shut down all electronic equipment, including life support!" Blake said in horror.

"And by the time they re-boot the system, the leaders of the world will all be dead! Marvellous, isn't it?" Roman added, his arms wide open in pre-mature victory.

All that RWBY could do was look in horror at Roman. All the leaders of the world, dead, from the single push of a button. Ruby was the first to speak.

"Why are you telling us all this?"

Roman chuckled at the seemingly innocent question.

"Oh Red, so innocent! What makes you think your leaving this room alive?" Roman asked, a sneer on his face. RWBY's eyes widened in horror as they realised what he was implying.

Torchwick pressed the console, which was immediately followed by the hum of machinery.

" _Charging sequence initiated!"_ a robotic voice announced as the machine hummed louder. Torchwick then pointed at team RWBY.

"Sic-em boys!" he shouted. The White Fang were quick to reply fired volley after volley of bullets at the trapped huntresses.

Weiss quickly used one of her glyphs to form an ice shield around the group, the thick walls offering some reprise from the bullets.

"I told you it was a trap!" Weiss shouted, a look of annoyance on her face.

"Now what?" Yang asked, clanking Ember Cilica together.

"We improvise!" Ruby shouted, charging at the White Fang while screaming in an attempt to intimidate her foes.

Weiss sighed as she joined her partner, followed by Blake and Yang. The team worked in complete tandem with one another, Ruby using Crescent Rose to send White Fang flying while using her speed semblance to confuse them, Weiss placing ice and fire glyphs under the White Fangs feet to incapacitate them while Blake and Yang cut down any White Fang foolish enough to enter close quarter combat. Yet despite their efforts, for every White Fang knocked down, two seemed to take their place. They were outmatched and out-gunned, which was worsened by the fact they were beginning to tire, their attacks becoming slower and sloppy while their foes were gaining more and more hits on them. Weiss created another ice shield so her team could once again rest, but the White Fang took it as their chance to encroach further onto the huntresses.

" _50% charged!"_ the robotic voice announced.

"We have to take out that device!" Blake shouted, panting between words.

"The control panel is our best bet, but how can we get to it in time?" Weiss suggested, though obviously she was in no state to perform her suggestion. Blake closed her eyes as she figured a way to the control panel, a risky way that she would most likely pay in blood, but seemingly the only way.

"I have an idea." she finally said, gaining her team-mates attention.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, barely getting the words out.

"Cover me!" was all she said as she rushed towards the White Fang. Her team barely had time to protest and so fired at the White Fang. Most were shot down, but one with a pair of broadswords drawn made it through, screaming a guttural war cry and making a beeline towards Blake.

"Blake, look out!" Yang shouted as the White Fang swung at her, but as the blade met the skin, her form dissipated. The White Fang looked around in confusion, as did the rest of team RWBY. Then, they saw her. Blake had jumped at the last second leaving a Shadow Clone in her wake and was leaping over every White Fang, too far out of range of sword and axe yet moving to fast for rifle and pistol. Blake held Gambol Shroud over her head and swung down on the control panel, cleaving it in two. The smug look of victory was wiped off Torchwicks face as the panel sparked wildly.

"YOU BITCH!" Torchwick shouted, back handing Blake, who was too exhausted to fight back. He placed a firm foot on her stomach, swiping a dust pistol from a White Fangs hand and taking aim at her head.

"BLAKE! NO!" Ruby shouted as Torchwick tightened his grip on the trigger. Suddenly, a large red pulse emanated around the room, knocking everyone off their feet. As they began to recover, they noticed the artefact was now glowing a blood red.

" _SHALOUKUUAA! SURAKIE SUTO YOH?"_ a voice boomed across the room, confusing all present. There were multiple murmurs across the room as none had the courage to answer.

"What?" Ruby asked, breaking the silence.

There was a long pause as everyone waited for a response. Silence filled the room for what seemed like minutes.

Finally, the voice returned, yet unlike the last time were it spoke it let out a long drawn out...sigh? The artefact began to shake violently before letting out a bright white pulse that enveloped Blake, Torchwick and the White Fang. The rest of team RWBY shielded their eyes as the light died down, with those consumed by the light gone.

"BLAKE!?" Ruby shouted, rushing forward to where the faunus had previously been.

"Ruby wait!" Weiss shouted as she and Yang ran to grab the young leader. Suddenly, the same bright light from before pulsed out, and RWBY were about to be consumed. Only Yang spoke as the light enveloped them.

"Son of a bi-!"

 **PLANET CHORUS, THREE WEEKS AFTER THE CEASEFIRE**

The once great city of Armonia, once the shining beacon of all of Chorus, now reduced to a military stronghold. Surrounding the city was a vast wasteland that seemingly went on forever while on the western border were the edgings of a forest that housed many indigenous predators. We turn our attention to the west entrance, which was guarded by a Federal Army soldier and his New Republic companion. Under normal circumstances, these two soldiers wouldn't be standing in peaceful solitude, as they would be to focused on trying to kill one another. However, times change, and now the two factions are working together to fight back the nefarious Charon Industries and their notorious Space Pirates. These two particular soldiers were on guard duty, ensuring that the Pirates didn't break in through the small yet easily accessible west gate.

"Hey." the Fed said, turning to his New Republic colleague.

"Yeah?" the Republican replied, also turning to face the soldier.

"You ever wonder why we're here?" the Fed asked. Indeed, it was a question that required a large answer, so the Fed waited patiently for his colleague to think of an answer.

"Not really, no." the Republican answered, turning back to face the forest.

"Why?" the Fed asked unsatisfied with the answer giving. The Republican sighed before turning to face the Fed yet again.

"Well, we're out here on guard duty so that the Space Pirates don't sneak into Armonia and wipe everyone out in the middle of the night! That's why we're here, so not much to wonder about really is there?" the Republican summarised hastily, turning back again to face the forest. The Fed stood in silence, taking in his colleagues answer.

"That's not what I meant." The fed finally replied, causing the Republican to turn in confusion.

"Oh?" the Republican enquired, wondering what his colleague actually meant.

"I mean, why are we here? You know? Was our universe created in some cosmic explosion and fate and all that being made up, or is there really a God out there who has a plan for us all? I don't know what the answer is man, but it sure does keep me up at night..."

The Republican stared in awe and bewilderment at his colleagues ACTUAL question. It took a while for the soldier to think of a reply, until finally he broke the silence.

"Now I know why Jenkins didn't want to go on guard duty with you..." the Republican grunted, turning once again to face the forest.

"Yeah...wait, what?" the Fed replied, almost innocently.

The Republican sighed, this time in anger, and turned to face the Fed yet again.

"Look, the thing is, you're just annoying! I mean, almost every time you speak it's a question!"

"I do?" the Fed ironically asked.

"You always ask stupid questions that no-one cares about!" the Republican stated, his anger growing.

"The origins of the universe is not a stupid question!" the Fed defended, his anger also beginning to rise.

"You always interrupt!" the Republican stated again, not realising the Feds sudden posture change.

"Shut up for a second!" the Fed ordered, seemingly looking out into the distance.

"YOU DID IT JUST THEN!" the Republican shouted, spreading out his arms in exasperation.

"Seriously shut up!" the Fed ordered again, this time more sternly. The Republican noticed the sudden change of mood and switched the safety off his DMR whilst the Fed cocked his Assault Rifle.

"What is it?" the Republican asked, aiming at the nearby tree-line.

"I'm picking up something..." the Fed replied, aiming his rifle at any sudden movement in the trees.

"Can you be a little more specific?" the Republican seethed under his breath.

"Electronic waves, like an EMP! And it's really close!" the Fed replied. The two soldiers backed closer to the entrance of the city.

"How close?" the Republican asked, fear weaved in his voice. Suddenly, a brilliant white flash engulfed an area of the forest, five miles off from the city. As the light receded, the two soldiers lowered their weapons. The Republican glared at the Fed who looked away sheepishly.

"My bad..." was all the Fed could say as his partner shook his head.

"Also, you have a tendency to oversell things!" the Republican said, returning to the previous argument.

"Wait, I've got another EMP signal coming in!" the Fed quickly shouted raising his weapon while the Republican only let out an exasperated sigh. "And this time, it really is close!"

"Oh really, and how close is that?" the Republican mockingly asked. Suddenly, a glowing white orb appeared before them, growing more volatile by the second. This time is was the Republicans turn to look sheepishly away.

"Oh..." the Republican blurted out.

The orb suddenly exploded, sending both soldiers flying towards the wall screaming. Both hit the wall with a loud thud that slightly cracked the stone work, but the soldiers were left uninjured. The Republican was first to recover as he began to cough up large amounts of dust that had entered his respirator. The Fed got up soon after, wiping off dust that seemingly caked the entirety of his white armour.

"What the hell was that?!" the Republican asked, picking up his DMR from the floor.

"I...I don't know." the Fed managed to say, retrieving his Assault Rifle and edging closer to the source of the explosion. The Republican slowly followed his colleague and gasped upon seeing the sight before him.

"Oh my god..." the Republican muttered. Before them was a large crater, the stone walkway that had once been there was completely obliterated, leaving only debris and smoke in its place.

"Holy shit, look!" the Fed shouted, pointing at the base of the crater. In the centre were three girls, the youngest must have been at least fifteen, lying unconscious in the crater.

"What the fuck!" the Republican shouted, standing back in awe as the Fed slid down into the crater. He moved into the centre of the group and looked for any sign of movement. The two oldest were breathing at a steady pace, but the youngest was barely moving.

"Oh crap..." the Fed muttered, checking for a pulse on the young girl. "We need a medic team now!"

 **Hope you enjoyed the first chapter of RWBY: The Chorus Chronicle! I haven't got an update schedule planned but I'm hoping for at least one update every week. In the mean time, feel free to review and remember, constructive criticism is welcome.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	2. Where Are We?

**Hello fellow authors, I have returned! A few things before getting started with the story. First of all, a huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed and/or made my story a favourite. You don't know how much confidence as a writer this gave me, so once again, thank you. Secondly, a bit of embarrassment on my behalf actually. When I wrote the first chapter, line breaks were appearing in between places to signify scene changes yet when I uploaded the story they had disappeared. I understand that it may have been confusing to some so I promise that if I figure out how to make them appear online, I will update the affected chapters. And lastly, RWBY volume 3 hype people! On with the story!**

 **Chapter 2: Where are we?**

All Ruby saw was darkness around her. No matter where she looked she was surrounded by layer after layer of shadow. Kinda ironic, she thought to herself. First she and her friends are consumed by a bright light and now nothing but shadow… wait, her friends! Where were they?! She felt a sudden feeling of dread tingle up her spine, colder than Beacon during winter. Was she dead? Were they dead? Or worse, were she dead and had gone straight to hell?! She wasn't a bad person, only bad people went to hell...right? Then it hit her, what if this was the afterlife. No heaven, no hell, just...nothingness. She wanted to cry, or to run as far away as she could, but she couldn't. She couldn't even move! The only movement was her eyes darting left to right. Wait, something moved! She wasn't alone in here! The movement intensified as her spirits lifted. Two amber eyes stared at her longingly through the shadows. Wait, something was wrong...the eyes were too small and lacked pupils. Then red markings appeared, painted on a white skull like mask while a pair of dagger like fangs lay underneath the mask. Her eyes widened as she realised what was before her. She couldn't even lift her arms in defence as the Beowolf lunged at her…

Ruby rose up almost instantly, her heart pounding faster than a rabbits foot. She held her breath for a few seconds, allowing her a brief moment of respite. It was okay, it was merely a nightmare. Everything was going to be okay, she repeated to herself, she was...she was...where was she?

Ruby looked around her, this wasn't the temple! The room was lined with scorched white tiles while a round white light flickered slightly in the centre of the ceiling. Next to her was a number of odd medical tools ranging from syringes to a defibrillator. She looked to see a sliding door with some sort of mechanical locking system while she found Crescent Rose no where to be found. The bed she was currently laid in was covered in a green cover of some sort which had obviously been re-used on multiple occasions. She looked down to see she was still in her combat gear, that was a relief at least. As to where she was, the best guess was a hospital ward of some sort, but there was no hospital like this in Vale, at least not one she had seen.

The door suddenly beeped to life as the mechanical lock switched to inactive. Ruby tensed as the door opened and looked. A soldier of some sort entered the room, paying no attention to Ruby at all. The soldier looked female, judging from their build. They wore tan armour with bits of purple splattered around here and there in a camouflage like pattern. A silver visor covered their face while a large, box like back pack was strung onto their back. In their hand was some sort of data pad that reminded her of a scroll which their eyes were seemingly glued to, while attached to her right thigh was a strange purple device that looked somewhat like a pistol. They glanced over to Ruby before looking once again at the pad, before turning in a surprised fashion as if she had just appeared.

"Oh good! You're finally awake!" the soldier said in an almost cheery voice.

Definitely a woman, Ruby thought to herself. Either that or it was a guy who was a bit too much in touch with their feminine side. The woman returned to fiddling with the data pad before continuing.

"So, how are you feeling?" the woman asked again, not bothering to look as if fixated with the pad.

"Uh, fine I guess..." Ruby managed to say.

"Any nausea? Light headedness? Headaches?" the woman continuously asked without giving Ruby time to answer each question individually.

"I-I don't think so..." Ruby sputtered out, watching the woman carefully as her hand reached for the pistol like device on her hip.

"Hold still please." the woman ordered, aiming the 'pistol' at Ruby. She complied as the end of the device began to glow a bright, fluorescent green. She stayed still until the device stopped glowing and the woman returned to her pad.

"Well, you're all clear. Have a nice day!" the woman said, turning to leave the room.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted, the woman stopping in her tracks and turning to face Ruby again.

"How long was I out?" Ruby asked, the woman pressing a few buttons on the pad in response.

"According to this, around two hours. Anything else I can help you with?" the woman eventually said.

Two hours! That couldn't be right! It was only a minute ago that she was at the temple.

"Where am I?" Ruby asked, this time seemingly catching the woman off guard.

"Armonia General Hospital of course." the woman replied nonchalantly, as if the answer was obvious.

Armonia, Ruby repeated in her head. She'd never heard of that hospital before. Not in Vale or in any other continent. She would have to ponder it later.

"Am I free to go?" Ruby asked for the final time.

"Of course! I believe your friends are waiting for you at the reception, second door on the left." the woman replied, pointing outside the door.

"Thank you." Ruby said, the woman waving a silent good bye as she turned to leave. Ruby slid off the bed and cautiously exited the room. Outside was a long corridor that was in just as bad disrepair as the room she was just in. Lime green walls had cracks and what appeared to be bullet holes along them while what she was certain was dried blood splattered across the area here and there. Finally she came across the second door on the left and pushed it open. She found herself in a small room with a segregated desk that obviously was used for booking appointments. Currently a man wearing the same armour as the woman from earlier was sat behind the desk while another in front of the desk was wearing white armour with sage stripes dotted around and was clutching a heavily bleeding arm. She didn't pay much attention to the conversation but she heard the name 'Dr. Grey' followed by a whimper from the white armoured soldier.

If she wasn't so pre occupied, she would have asked who this 'Dr. Grey' was or why the man's arm was bleeding, but she was looking for her friends. Nothing else mattered.

"RUBY!" a familiar voice shouted. Ruby turned and was caught in the tightest bear hug she had ever had.

"Yang! Can't! Breath!" Ruby managed to get out before her half-sister let go of her playful death grip.

"Oh thank god your okay, dad would have killed me if anything happened to you! I was so worried!" Yang blurted out at a speed that could rival Ruby.

"WE were worried, you mean." another voice said.

Ruby looked behind her sister to see Weiss standing with her arms crossed and an icy glare directed at her. Ruby sighed in relief and looked at her friends. They were still in combat gear minus their weapons and were slightly bruised from what she assumed was the skirmish with the White Fang. Then something hit her.

"Where's Blake?" Ruby asked, looking around for her faunus friend. The looks on Weiss and Yangs face turned from relief to confusion.

"She wasn't with you?" Weiss managed to say. Ruby shook her head in response. Before either one could inquire further, the door beside them slid open. Standing there were a pair of soldiers with weapons drawn. The first looked like the woman who had checked up on Ruby but instead of purple streaks he had sage ones while the weapon in his hand was long and black with a single scope on top. Judging from the design of the weapon, it was precision based and probably functioned like a mini sniper rifle. The other soldier looked like the one with the bleeding arm though this time, she was able to get a better look at the armour design.

It looked highly advanced in comparison to his compatriots, with sharp angular curves here and there. The helmet had a single, cycloptic orange visor in the centre with a small black respirator of some sort at the bottom. The armour was white with sage stripes every so often, similar to his injured double. Unlike his accomplice who held a sleek precision based weapon, the white soldier held a somewhat bulky weapon that was more likely a frontal assault weapon. The three huntress's didn't know what the two men wanted, a feeling that was only intensified as they turned to walk towards them.

"Ladies, we need you to come with us please." the tan soldier said, bobbing his head up and down whenever he talked.

"Where to?" Weiss challenged, attempting to gain some form of authority.

"You'll find out soon enough." the white soldier replied, giving absolutely no answer what so ever.

The three huntresses merely shrugged and followed the two men out of the reception. Upon exiting, the huntresses were greeted by a sight they didn't expect. A large metropolitan like city surrounded them, with buildings and skyscrapers as far as the eye could see while a long monorail track spanned above them. The city some what reminded her of Vale, if Vale was a lot grubbier and filled with men and women wearing the same armour as their escort. Military cars patrolled the streets while various soldiers chatted with one another, their heads bobbing up and down as they seemingly spoke.

"Through here!" the tan soldier said, gesturing towards a building that was considerably smaller then the others around them. The huntresses entered the building to find themselves in almost complete darkness. The room was small and the only sources of light was through the door which was promptly closed and a dingy light hanging from the ceiling. From what they could see, in front of them directly under the light was a table with a pitcher of water and three cups lined in a row with three chairs neatly lined up with one another. Then, they saw them.

At first they seemed invisible but now they were as clear as day. The first was clearly a man wearing armour almost as dark as the room with yellow stripes here and there while an orange visor covered the majority of his face. The other was a woman who was well built and had a look around that screamed 'no-nonsense woman!'. She wore cyan armour and wore a slightly different helmet, with her visor being more of a thin horizontal strip rather than something that covered her entire face. The woman gestured for them to sit which the huntresses quickly did and helped themselves to some much needed water.

"Ladies, thank you for coming on such short notice." the man said.

Wait, he didn't! Did he? Ruby turned to her friends, they all had the same shocked look on their face. This guy sounded an awful lot like Ozpin, almost too much like him. The two soldiers looked at one another before turning to face the speechless teens.

"Is something wrong?" the woman asked, no hint of worry in her voice at all.

Ruby's jaw dropped even further. No way was this possible! The woman sounded an awful lot like Pyrrha, except a lot older. This had to be a coincidence, surely it must be! It wasn't as if the woman looked exactly like her, hell, Ruby secretly bet the woman didn't even possess a fraction of the skill Pyrrha had! It was just the voice...that's all...no further similarities to take into account…

"Uh no, we're fine." Weiss finally managed to spit out. At least some one is taking charge, Ruby thought.

The two soldiers looked at one another, not entirely believing Weiss what so ever.

"Okay then, we just need to ask a few questions, understood?" the man finally said. The huntresses nodded in unison. "All right then, what are your names?"

"I'm Ruby Rose, this is my friend Weiss Schnee and that's my half-sister Yang Xiao Long." Ruby said without even thinking. She mentally chastised herself for giving out their names so quickly without any knowledge of who she was talking to.

"All right then 'Ruby'," the woman said, leaning forward before continuing. "I take it your in charge here, is that correct?"

Ruby merely nodded in response. This woman may sound a bit like Pyrrha but she didn't have her personality, that was for sure.

The woman merely smirked in response "A bit young to be in charge aren't you?"

Ruby didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, Yang seemingly took it as the former.

"You take that back you bitch!" Yang shouted, her eyes slightly flaring a shade of red.

"I'm sorry, I didn't realise I was talking to you!" the woman retorted, staring what Ruby assumed was daggers into Yang. The situation was seemingly intensifying with both Yang and the woman sizing each other up.

"That's enough you two!" the man shouted, getting in between the two. The situation seemed to defuse itself as the woman backed away and Yang sat down, her eyes turning back to their natural lilac.

"Why don't you let the people person handle this, okay?" the man whispered to his colleague, who merely grunted in response. The man then turned his full attention to the huntresses. "Ruby I take it?"

Ruby once again nodded, though she didn't feel as intimidated by him as his partner.

"I want you to tell me what happened approximately two hours ago." the man asked.

"I don't remember much." Ruby sheepishly admitted.

"Just try and recall what you can." the man said again.

Ruby took a deep breath before she began to tell her account of the events that led to their current situation, including Torchwick, Blake, the White Fang, the temple and the bright white light that enveloped them which brought her and her friends to this place. When she had finished, she could tell from the two soldiers body language that they were utterly confused.

"Wash, a moment please?" the woman hissed slightly. The man, who must have been 'Wash', turned to the woman who gestured to the entrance and both left the room to discuss their verdict on the teens. What seemed like hours passed with utter silence between the team. Yang was the first to break the silence.

"I miss Ember Cilica, if I had them right now, I would've punched that bitch right in the face for what she said." Yang lowly whispered, in case the room was bugged.

"That would've only made things worse, who knows what these people are like! They could have aura or something far stronger for all we know!" Weiss retorted, earning a shrug from Yang.

"I miss Crescent Rose though, I feel kinda...'naked' without it." Ruby whispered, she was rarely seen without the weapon and it felt like a part of her.

"I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure our weapons are fine." Weiss replied to reassure her friend.

In Armonia's armoury, four of the New Republic's and Federal Armies scientists were studying the strange hybrid weapons before them. One Republican tech was examining Myrtenaster's Dust storage while the other was trying to figure out how Crescent Rose morphed from a sniper to a scythe and then into an easy to carry box.

Meanwhile, a Fed tech was studying one of the shotgun gauntlets that made up Ember Cilica while the other had the guts to actually equip the other half of the weapon, shaking his hand furiously in an attempt to make it work.

"How does this thing even work?!" the Fed shouted to his partner who merely shrugged in response.

Almost without warning the gauntlet let out a round, sending the unprepared tech flying and screaming into the wall. The impact dented the wall greatly while knocking the Fed out cold. In response, his partner gulped as he quickly dropped Ember Cilica to avoid a similar fate.

"Guys, can I ask you something?" Ruby said, turning to her friends, who merely looked at her in response.

"Do you think Blake is okay?"

Judging from their reaction, the answer was unknown to them. That was exactly what Ruby was afraid of.

"I'm sure she'll be fine, she's resourceful Ruby." Yang quietly said to reassure her sister.

"Maybe they found her and she's in some sort of intensive care or..." Weiss simply trailed off as she realised she was probably making things worse.

Suddenly, the doors behind them opened letting light into the room once more. The two soldiers from before entered as the door closed as quickly as it had been opened. The huntresses looked at the pair, waiting for their judgement.

"Despite my personal feelings towards you and your story, my partners agree with one another." the woman finally said, a hint of venom in her voice.

Ruby looked around in confusion. There was the 'Wash' guy but no one else is in the room. Perhaps this other person was observing or something from somewhere else.

"You girls are…free to go." she reluctantly said, staring at 'Wash' with a look that said 'anything bad happens, it is on you!'. Relief washed over Ruby and her team-mates, but the soldiers weren't finished yet.

"You can wander around the city, but you will be under close surveillance at all times. Do anything suspicious or out of the ordinary, and there will be consequences!" Wash said, his voice darkening at the last sentence. "Any questions?"

"Yeah, where are our weapons?" Yang asked, looking as if she was about to burst.

"Your weapons are being looked at our technicians for now, you will be able to retrieve them as long as you don't decide to go on a slasher spree in the city!" the woman said, slightly more relaxed than she had been during their interrogation. "Any other questions?"

There was one question that had been gnawing on Ruby's mind ever since she reunited with Weiss and Yang but had never found out the answer to.

"Do you know if our friend Blake will be all right?" Ruby finally managed to say.

The looks of confusion the pair were giving each other confirmed Ruby's fears long before Wash managed to speak.

"Who's Blake?"

 **Forest Peninsula, 5 miles off Western Armonia border, 1 hour after arrival**

Blake groaned in pain, everything hurt whenever she moved. She winced in pain slightly as she moved her head to get a better look around. She was in a forest of some sort, gnarled trees were all there were for miles around. A large, protruding bramble patch was to her left which was littered with White Fang carcasses, Crows and other scavengers already feasting on the still fresh remains of faunus. That was when Blake realised something was up. She was upside down. She looked at her feet to find them snagged on a tree branch while below her were a number of discarded weapons, including Gambol Shroud. She sighed internally, looking to find some way of getting down. Then she heard voices, a pair of voices, getting louder by the second.

"I don't like this." the first voice said, which was deep and croaky.

"Don't be such a baby, we're just checking the perimeter!" the second voice said, which was smoother yet just as deep as the first.

"Exactly, do you know what happened to the others who checked the perimeter?" the first said, his voice getting more exasperated with each word.

"No, what happened?" the second enquired.

"Exactly! We don't know! They just disappeared into thin air!" the first replied. She could see the two owners of the voices now. White Fang, one a cat faunus of some sort like herself while the other was a wolf or other canine hybrid.

Don't look up, please don't look up! Blake whispered to herself. If they ignored her, she could get back to finding a way out of here without drawing any attention to herself. Suddenly, a loud snapping noise was heard. She looked around hastily, before her eyes met her foot, the branch starting to give way to the pressure.

"What was that?" the cat faunus said, who was the owner of the deep croaky voice.

"Lets find out." the wolf said, his footsteps getting louder as he approached the clearing below.

"Oh no..." Blake whispered, before the branch finally gave into the pressure. She began to free fall as time seemingly slowed down around her. She twisted and turned herself upright, making sure her feet hit the ground first rather than her head. As the ground got closer, she braced herself for a hard landing. She hit the ground with a large thud...and an intense pain in her left foot.

She bit her lips to bite back the scream that was soon to follow. She looked at her foot to see her left ankle twisted slightly. That shouldn't have happened, her aura should have taken the brunt of the damage! She quickly grabbed Gambol Shroud and began to limp as fast as she could from the clearing.

"It's the traitor! Get her!" the wolf faunus shouted. She knew it was fruitless to run in her condition but she had little choice. Suddenly she felt some sort of wire wrap around her legs, causing her to fall and Gambol Shroud to slip from her grasp again. She looked at her feet to find a bola wrapped around them. She began to crawl towards Gambol Shroud, hoping to cut the bola and continue her escape.

"Gotcha filth!" the wolf faunus shouted, placing his knee on the small of Blake's back before grabbing her arms and cuffing them behind her back.

It was hopeless, she felt the cat faunus cut the bola as the wolf faunus picked her up and shoved her forward harshly.

"Start walking traitor! Torchwick wants a few words with you!" the cat faunus sneered, grabbing Gambol Shroud off the floor jabbing the blade into her flesh. Blake limped forward, being guided harshly by her two captives until she found herself in a crater of some sort. Within was all the White Fang that had been present at the temple, some carrying minor injuries such as cuts and bruises while others laid in pain, their entrails nearly spilling out of their slashed stomachs. Up ahead on the highest mound in the crater was the man himself, Torchwick. His hair was slightly ruffled while his bowler hat had a small hole in it. Melodic Cudgel was still in his hand while his once pristine white coat was now smudged with dirt and blood, which she was confident wasn't his own. He turned to face Blake, his neutral gaze becoming a sinister smile upon seeing her.

"Well well, look what the cat dragged in." Torchwick said as the two grunts pushed her forward before leaving.

"I've been waiting for you to arrive my dear, I was worried you had died in the landing like so many of your kind did." Torchwick said, fake sympathy in his voice.

Blake merely spat at Torchwick who only laughed in response.

"You think I'm lying, don't you? Because I really am happy you survived, I was worried that a tree or one of those overgrown lizards our scouts keep finding had gotten to you first!" Torchwick continued, ignoring Blake's hateful gaze. "You see, I didn't want something like that to get the pleasure of killing you first." he finished, the sinister smile growing as he spoke.

"Ladies and Gentlemen! May I have you attention!" Torchwick shouted. All the White Fang present turned to look at the man, looking at their commanding officer. "Before you stands one of your own, a traitor to your people!" Torchwick rapidly grabbed Blake by the back of her neck and shoved her forward slightly. The crowd immediately turned from passive to aggressive at the sight of her, many shouting insults and throwing rocks and lord knows what else at her.

"She betrayed your trust and now she stands before you as a prisoner!" Torchwick continued, "Your not going to let her get away with her crimes are you?"

"NO!" the crowd shouted in unison.

"What are you going to do then?" Torchwick asked again.

"KILL HER!" the crowd replied in unison yet again.

Blake hated to admit it, but Torchwick had a way with words. She had seen it before at the rally when she and Sun went to spy on him a few months ago. The crowd were reacting to his speech like fire on dry wood. However, all of a sudden the crowd died down and looked at a single grunt in the centre of the crowd. Blake narrowed her eyes and saw what they were fixated on, a small red blob on the soldiers head.

"What is it?" the soldier asked, fear in his voice.

"Rodney, theirs something on your head..." Torchwick replied, confusion obvious in his own voice.

"What, like a spider? Get it off!" the soldier, who she assumed was Rodney, shouted, his body tensing slightly.

"No, it's red and glowing." Torchwick replied, placing his face in his palm before sighing in disbelief.

"What, like a red glowing spider? Get it off!" Rodney replied, his body tensing further.

"For goodness sake Rodney, it's not a spider!" Torchwick shouted.

"Well, what is-" Rodney never finished the sentence as a hole the size of a fist entered his head, his body disintegrating into orange flakes as he hit the floor. Panic began to enter the White Fang as more and more White Fang began to get picked off by the same beams that had killed poor Rodney. I took the deaths of around twenty of the White Fang before the panic died down. Their had been around fifty White Fang in the temple, forty five had survived the arrival, now there were only twenty five left. Torchwick placed Melodic Cudgel on the ground and held his hands up in surrender. The other White Fang followed suite.

Blake kept her eyes open, looking for any sign of their attackers when she saw a shimmer on the edge of the crater, and another, and another. She counted at least ten shimmers surrounding the crater. Then they began to appear from thin air. Around ten soldiers, six men and four women, surrounding them. The women wore steel grey armour unlike anything Blake had ever seen, thin silver visors covering their helmets while they aimed long rifles of some form on the White Fang. The men wore armour that was more bulky in appearance but was the same colour, large silver visors covering their helmets while they too aimed the strange rifles at the White Fang.

What she assumed was their leader stepped forward, flanked by a male and female soldier on either side. His armour was similar to the men's armour yet it had a white border at multiple joints, the same rifle as the others carried leaning on his shoulder.

"Well well, what do we have here?" he said, his voice deep and threatening. He turned towards the woman on his right before continuing. "Contact HQ, tell them we found something very interesting..."

 **Dun, dun, duuuuun! What will happen next! Will Ruby and friends find out the fate of their friend? Will Blake survive her encounter? Will the Fed technician be all right after his encounter with Ember Cilica? Find out the answer to most of these questions in the next chapter! Don't forget to leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome!**

 **Raging Archon out!**


	3. Well Met!

**Well people, I have to say, the pressure on me having to deliver these chapters is now mounting up. So much pressure, yet in a good way of course! A really...horrifyingly...good way… Enough of that however, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 3:- Well Met!**

 **Armonia City Centre**

Ruby looked over the bustling cityscape as she wandered the city. When she had first seen the city, she had compared it to Vale in terms of architecture. That was pretty much the only similarity between Vale and Armonia. Where there should have been civilians wandering in without little regard to one another, soldiers patrolled the area, reporting in to superior officers. Where there should have been shops showing off their wares, there were make shift military bunkers in their place. She also could sense some tension between the soldiers in the tan and green armour and those in the white and green armour. Was it some form of segregation perhaps? She had heard the ones in white referred to as 'Feds' while the ones in tan as 'Republicans'. Had the two factions been at war at some point? She would have to ask later, but right now she was an important mission: find Crescent Rose!

She had hoped she could find it in the city centre but the sheer number of people made it impossible to find. She sighed and turned heel, away from the centre. She found herself sat on the curb of a street, where there were only a few soldiers to share her isolation with. As she sat, her mind went to Blake. She was afraid for her friend, out there all alone in the wilderness. She at least was with her friends, Blake was alone for all she knew. At least that's what she was led to believe. She barely knew these people, yet she placed her trust in them telling the truth. For all she knew, they could be experimenting on her, taking her apart and studying her bit by-

 _BOOM!_

Ruby bolted to her feet at the sound of the explosion. The soldiers stopped what they were doing and turned to the direction of the explosion. It sounded close, and judging from the amount of dust that was stirred nearby, it was really close! The soldiers waited, hoping for some form of confirmation on what caused it. Ruby was defenceless, the soldiers were her first and last line of defence. She readied herself, waiting for the first enemy to come round the corner.

"GOD DAMMIT GRIF!"

The soldiers lowered their weapons and continued with their daily business. Wait, what just happened? Ruby rushed round the corner and found what appeared to be a garage of some sort, however, the complex was covered in smoke that was billowing out of the entrance.

"IT WASN'T MY FAULT!" a voice shouted from the facility. It sounded somewhat hoarse as if the user had a sore throat, probably due to the amount of shouting it did.

"HOW IS IT NOT YOUR FAULT?!" the first voice retorted. This one was smoother yet also more panicked. Whether it was just because of the current situation or if it was just second nature to the man, Ruby didn't know. The smoke was beginning to clear and she could make out two shapes. Their armour was almost identical to that 'Washington' guy with some noticeable differences. One was maroon while the other was some sort of goldish orange. The maroon soldier had some defining muscles but nothing special. The orange guy appeared to have a bit of a pot belly and was noticeably chubbier than his friend. The maroon one was wielding a rifle that was some what similar to the one Washington used while the orange one had a rifle that was completely different in design to all the other weapons she had seen so far. It was somewhat futuristic in design with lots of sharp angles and glowing orange lights. Both soldiers were covered in black soot and from what she could gather, one of them must have caused an explosion.

"You should have been more specific on what you meant by help you!" the orange one replied, and judging from his voice, he must have been 'Grif'.

"Usually when someone asks for help to move some boxes labelled 'high explosives', they usually mean help me pick it up not throw a GOD DAMN FUCKING GRENADE AT IT!" the maroon one shouted back, his voice breaking slightly at the end.

"I thought it was a teleportation cube! It's not as if it's happened before!" Grif retorted. What was that about teleportation?

"But it has happened before!" the maroon one said in response. A brief silence was all that followed.

"Oh yeah..." Grif replied, in an almost otherworldly fashion.

The maroon soldier sighed to himself before speaking again.

"This always happens when I ask you for help, if you bothered to check your HUD before you act every once in a while..."

"Hey, you can't force me to change my lazy lifestyle to suit your needs! Besides, you knew the risks!" Grif retorted, neither one noticing Ruby.

"Yeah, well- oh hey someone's here!" the maroon one said, turning to face Ruby.

"Huh?" Grif muttered, until he also noticed Ruby.

"Welcome to the armoury, how can I be of assistance?" the maroon one asked in a pleasant manner.

Ruby merely stared trying to find the right words. Apparently, she was silent for a long time as both soldiers turned to one another before staring at Ruby.

"Uh, you okay there?" Grif enquired, cocking his head slightly.

"Huh? Oh yeah, uh… who are you two?" Ruby finally managed to spit out.

"I am Captain Simmons of red team ma'am, reporting for duty!" Simmons replied, did she think she was his superior or something?

"Nerd..." was all Grif said in response, before being elbowed by Simmons in the gut. "Ow, watch it!"

"Stow that kinda talk Captain Grif, the lady asked you a question!" Simmons said in a somewhat authoritative voice...she thought.

"Actually, I'm only fifteen so I'm not even a proper lady yet so..." Ruby butted in, the words trailing off at the end of the sentence. Both soldiers stared at one another before turning to face Ruby.

"Now that you mention it, you are kinda short..." Simmons said, realising his error.

"Now that you mention it, I have not seen a single person under the age of twenty one on this planet." Grif chimed in. Simmons raised his head as if pondering the statement.

"Hey your right! You'd have thought we would've seen at least one kid on this planet." Simmons finally responded. Ruby coughed into her hand, gaining the twos attention yet again.

"Oh right! So, what do you want?" Grif said, while Simmons just blankly stared at her.

"Uh, what is this place exactly?" Ruby asked. The smoke had all cleared but a lot of the items on display were still covered in soot or were covered by blankets of some form.

"This is the armoury, would you like to rent a weapon?" Simmons replied. Wait, weapons? Perhaps Crescent Rose was here, only one way to find out.

"I would like to retrieve Crescent Rose please." Ruby said, her hands clenching and unclenching in excitement. She was met with only silence.

"My weapon..." Ruby said yet again, and was met with silence yet again. She sighed internally before continuing. "The really deadly looking weapon..."

"Oh, you mean the scythe?" Simmons finally said.

"Sniper Rifle!" Grif interrupted, somewhat angrily.

"For the last time Grif, it's clearly a scythe!" Simmons seethed, turning to face Grif again.

"What type of scythe has a trigger and scope?" Grif replied, raising his voice slightly.

"What type of sniper rifle has a scythe blade on the end?" Simmons asked somewhat ludicrously.

"What if it's a hybrid, hmm? Never thought of that did you?" Grif replied somewhat confidently, crossing his arms as he awaited Simmons response.

"Neither did you?!" Simmons retorted. Both soldiers stared at one another, waiting for the other to respond.

"So, what do you wanna call it? A Scythfle?" Grif finally said.

"I don't know, sounds kinda lame. What did you say it was called?" Simmons said, turning to Ruby.

"Crescent Rose." Ruby said, a hint of pride in her voice.

"Ha, nerd!" Grif shouted. Ruby just stood slack jawed. It had taken her months upon months to build Crescent Rose and even longer to use it properly. She was proud of the weapon and its name, and this man had called her nerd in response!?

"How about… a Scyther Rifle?" Simmons finally said. There was a short delay of silence before Grif spoke.

"Yeah that could work..." Grif said. Ruby was still in shock from Grif's statement.

"How is Crescent Rose nerdy?" Ruby finally said, she was truly hurt by the comment.

"You named your weapon, what isn't nerdy about that?" Grif asked.

"Wait...didn't you name the Meta's weapon 'The Grif-Shot'?" Simmons said, in slight confusion of Grif's contradiction.

"Yeah but that was one bad-ass weapon!" Grif replied, confusing Simmons even more.

"What's not bad-ass about a Scyther Rifle?!" Simmons shouted in confusion.

"Are you guys saying you don't name your weapons?" Ruby asked, now she was confused herself.

"No, why would we?" Simmons asked.

"But a weapon is an extension of yourself! It's as much a part of you as your soul is!" Ruby explained, hopefully that would get what she was getting at now...right?

"So?" was Grif's reply. Ruby sighed to herself, clearly she wasn't getting anywhere with these people.

"Please can you just give me Crescent Rose..." Ruby said, there was no point in continuing this argument. As far as she was concerned, it was an uphill battle.

"One Scyther Rifle coming up!" Grif said, turning to enter a room on the far side of the room. A few minutes later and he came out, struggling to carry the hybrid weapon. "Jesus christ! This thing is heavy!" Grif panted, struggling to even lift the weapon onto the counter. When he finally did, Ruby quickly grabbed the weapon, holding it close to her body as if the deadly weapon was a lost child.

"Thank you so much for giving me back my weapon!" Ruby said, she would've hugged them if it wasn't for the fact they were complete douche bags. "Say, was there any other weapons in there?" Ruby asked, somewhat curiously.

"There was a pair of metal wristbands and a fencing sword...why?" Grif replied, still struggling to breathe.

That must mean Weiss and Yang hadn't retrieved their weapons yet, Ruby thought, she should find them so they can retrieve their weapons and aren't caught defenceless.

"Can you help me look for my friends please? I don't really know the city well and you look like you know your way around." Ruby asked, they weren't the first choice of people she would have asked, but they were the only ones who had spoken to her willingly so far.

"Uh, I guess we could help..." Simmons replied, gaining what she guessed was a death stare from Grif.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Why would you want to help?" Grif asked exasperatedly, his arms wide open in shock.

"Beats looking after this piece of crap!" Simmons retorted, gesturing to the small armoury behind him.

"Fair enough..." Grif said, lowering his arms. "I'll go find Donut and Lopez, see if they can look after the armoury while we're gone."

Ruby wasn't sure if she was happy people were willing to help her find her friends, or concerned that these were the people helping her. Quietly, she hoped her friends didn't find themselves in similar situations to what she was in.

 **00000000**

 **Armonia, down-town district**

Weiss wandered the streets of the ruined city, taking in every detail. It certainly was similar to Vale, but was nothing too special. The area was slightly cleaner than what she had seen in the city centre, but the situation was still as dire. She thought back of her home, Atlas, and wondered if the people of the city would deal with the situation any differently than the people of Chorus. She was confident that as a country that prided itself on military advancement, they would deal with the situation far better...but these soldiers looked as though they had been fighting for a long time, perhaps even years. She sighed internally before looking into her small purse she carried almost everywhere. It contained multiple Dust Magazines but were completely useless without Myrtenaster. She was currently searching for the armoury, and if not that, perhaps a place to stock up on Dust. The thought hadn't occurred to her that Dust may not even exist in this world, but surely it must have. What else could power their weapons? She would've asked for directions, but she didn't entirely trust the people here. The situation was all just too much of a coincidence to her, perhaps it was just her overreacting, or perhaps she had some how subconsciously heard something that-

"HELLO!"

Weiss screamed in slight surprise. She had been so caught up in her thoughts she had nearly walked into someone. She looked at the individual, he was...big...very big! He had very defined muscles and towered over her slightly. His armour was similar in design to that Washington guy, but his helmet looked somewhat more...basic than his. In his hand he held a weapon that was the same as the ones used by the soldiers in white, yet he had a very strong grip on it. Another feature that made him stand out was his armour colour, a deep blue of some sort.

"Watch were your going you dolt, you scared me!" Weiss said in slight anger. She was more or less to blame, but she wasn't going to back down.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about stuff..." the blue soldier said. For a second, she thought he sounded like Professor Oobleck. But that was impossible, that guy was faster than Ruby while this guy seemed a bit...slow.

"Oh...hello!" the blue soldier said yet again. Weiss was taken aback for a second. Had he completely forgotten her? If so, this guy was definitely not like Oobleck.

"Are you all right?" Weiss asked, somewhat concerned.

"Yeah, I was just taking Freckles for a walk! Isn't that right Freckles?" the blue soldier replied. Weiss looked around confused. No one was around as far as she could see.

" _Affirmative, Captain Caboose!"_ a robotic voice replied.

"Wait, did that gun just talk?" Weiss asked in disbelief, she had heard about A.I's in the past but never thought she would see one, especially one in a weapon!

"Yes! Freckles, meet Lady Church!" the soldier, who she theorized was Caboose, said to the rifle.

" _Citizen."_ the rifle replied.

"What did you just call me?" Weiss asked, she wanted to make sure she heard him right.

"He called you citizen." Caboose replied.

"Not the rifle, you! What did you call me?" Weiss said, raising a finger at the blue giant.

"Lady Church." Caboose replied, a slight tinge of friendliness in his voice.

"My name is not 'Lady Church'! I am Weiss Schnee, Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company!" Weiss said angrily as she awaited the Blue giants response.

"Bless you!" Caboose replied. Weiss sighed angrily, apparently he had gotten 'Schnee' and 'Sneeze' mixed up. But the confusion wouldn't stop her from continuing.

"You will refer to me as 'Heiress', not 'Lady Church'!" Weiss finished, she didn't even know who Church was and why the moron compared her to him.

"Okay Lady Church!" was Caboose's reply, the tinge of friendliness still present. Weiss sighed, talking to this man was like talking to a rock, so she decided to change the subject.

"Listen, do you know where I can find some more Dust? I would heavily appreciate it if you could point me in the right direction." Weiss asked, using her 'kind' voice. Caboose looked around before facing Weiss again.

"Uh, we don't do Dust here." Caboose whispered to Weiss.

"What?" Weiss was shocked and confused, how could this society support itself without Dust?

"Yeah, uh, I know this place where you can get some help to clean your act up and uh, get out of doing bad habits if you catch my drift." Caboose whispered again.

Wait, was he referring to drugs? Was this man so stupid he thought that Dust and Drugs were the same thing?

"I didn't say Drugs, I said Dust!" Weiss shouted.

"Don't worry, denial is the first stage of withdrawal!" Caboose calmly replied. Weiss had lost it, not even Ruby had infuriated her this much with her innocent nature when they first met!

"My god, what is wrong with you! You are, without a doubt, the most idiotic and stupid person I have ever met! Why don't you do yourself and all of us a favour and go kill yourself!" Weiss shouted, holding her arms out wide. She waited for the blue dolts response. Part of her felt glad that she had said that to the idiot, but a part of her was ashamed as well. Several seconds passed before Weiss got a reply.

"You and I are gonna be best friends...after you get your drug problem solved of course!"

Weiss whimpered in defeat, in all her years had she never encountered someone like him. She merely clutched her temple and sighed.

"I think I'm getting a migraine..." Weiss stated matter of factly.

"Yeah, I have that effect on people!" Caboose replied. Weiss sighed again, this day couldn't get any worse.

"Weiss!"

Weiss turned her head slightly at the sound of her name. Ruby was fast approaching, Crescent Rose attached to her back. Weiss smiled slightly, until she saw who was tailing her. A pair of soldiers in armour similar to Washington's, except one Maroon the other...gold maybe? She sighed as Ruby approached her.

"Weiss, there you are, we've been looking all over for you!" Ruby said, coming to a halt mere inches from where Weiss was standing.

"When did you get Crescent Rose back?" Weiss asked, if she got her weapon back, perhaps she could get Myrtenaster back as well.

"Seriously! That's the reply we get? No 'thanks' or anything? What a waste!" the gold soldier dead-panned.

"Well, Caboose has probably drained her completely so...you know." The maroon one said, gesturing to Caboose as he spoke.

"Fair enough..." the gold one replied quietly.

"Grif...Simmons...hello!" Caboose said as he noticed the two soldiers.

"Don't you start on us too!" the gold one stated, pointing a finger at the blue moron.

"I got it at the armoury, I'll show you then we can find Yang." Ruby replied, turning to the direction she arrived and running, followed closely by Weiss.

"Great, more walking...so excited..." Grif groaned in disgust, before running after the huntresses, followed closely by Simmons and Caboose.

"Wait, who the fuck is Yang?" Grif asked.

 **00000000**

 **Armonia, Training Hall**

Yang flexed her arms out slightly, glad to have Ember Cilica back. She had found an armoury being tended to by some brown armoured robot speaking gibberish and a rather flamboyant pink armoured man who translated for him...she thinks. She had found the training room shortly after and was watching the soldiers practice shooting, laps and other military style stuff. She had to admit, she was pretty impressed with what she was seeing, some of the soldiers here could maybe give her a run for her money...maybe.

She had spent long enough and turned to leave, hoping to find Ruby and Weiss. Perhaps she could ask around, the people seemed friendly enough and she trusted them slightly. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't be so willing to trust newcomers, but these people had saved Ruby and that was good enough for her. She turned to leave when something caught her eye. A soldier that looked a lot like Washington was staring at her, but the colouration of the armour was more like that Carolina chick. He was holding a rifle that looked identical to the ones the tan armoured soldiers used while the hilt of some sort of weapon was attached to his thigh. Judging from his body language, it looked as if he were checking her out… no that couldn't be right could it?

"Hey there hot stuff, hows it going?" the soldier said, his voice was slightly high yet also deep at the same time...if that made any sense.

"What did you just say?" was Yangs reply. She didn't know if she should flattered or insulted at the comment.

"I was paying you a compliment lady," the soldier said, causing Yang to slightly smile. "So, is your name as pretty as your face?"

Yang hoped she wasn't blushing, the guy was certainly edging towards flattering at this point.

"Names Yang." she replied, this guy seemed sweet.

"Names Tucker, wooer of women and slayer of evil!" the soldier replied, and judging from the confidence in his voice, it was something he said often. "I haven't seen you around these parts, you a newcomer?"

"Yeah, you might have heard of us. Me and my friends got teleported here by accident." Yang replied. She was sure the news would have travelled around by now and everyone in the city had been talking about it.

"Oh yeah, you're the women with all the crazy swords and shit!" Tucker realised. "I've got a big sword you can play with...Bow chicka bow wow!" he said, trading the rifle for the strange weapon on his thigh, which in turned lit up into a weapon of pure energy.

Yang stared at the soldier, the smile now gone. This guy had turned from charming into complete a-hole in less than a minute.

"What did you just say?" Yang asked, her voice deathly quiet.

"TUCKER!" a booming voice shouted.

"Oh crap!" Tucker blurted out, turning around. Yang followed his stare and found herself looking at a man in blood red armour marching towards Tucker, a shotgun in hand. His posture suggested he had spent a lifetime in the military, and he sounded pissed.

"Captain Tucker! Why are you out here trying to flirt with eye candy that's way out of your league instead of training these men and women?!" the man shouted, before turning to Yang. "Ma'am." he politely said before turning his rage back at Tucker. Yang couldn't believe this guy was a Captain, he seemed way to immature. Yang then focused her attention back on the red guy. His armour was like Tucker's, minus the colour, while his voice had a strong accent while also sounding like he took around fifty shots of whisky a day all at once.

"Oh come one Sarge, loosen up a bit will ya!" Tucker replied. Wait, if Tucker was a Captain and this guy was a Sergeant, how was he getting away with yelling at a superior officer? She didn't know much about the army, but she knew enough to know that Captains outranked Sergeants.

"I'll loosen up all right, after I'm done with my Shotgun Court Martial!" Sarge shouted, raising the shotgun and pumping it up, ready for use.

"Do I look like Grif to you? You won't shoot!" Tucker said, no hint of fear in his voice at all.

"One..." Sarge replied, tightening his grip on the weapon.

"Okay I'm going!" Tucker quickly said, turning to run. So much for being fearless.

"Works every time!" Sarge laughed, lowering the weapon.

"Wait, how could you get away with that? Doesn't he outrank you?" Yang asked, causing Sarge to turn his full attention to her.

"Nope." Sarge quickly replied.

"But he's a Captain and your a Sergeant!" Yang replied.

"Colonel actually!" Sarge corrected, "But you can call me Sarge!"

Yang stared slightly at the Sergea...Colonel in slight confusion. If he was a Colonel, why have a name like Sarge? She pushed the question aside to allow herself to speak.

"Names Yang." Yang said, holding her hand out which Sarge gripped tightly before letting go.

"Pleasure to meet you Yang, so what's a little girl like you doing here then?" Sarge enquired, irking Yang slightly. She was the oldest out of her team so the idea of being the 'little one' irked her. Then again, this guy was a lot taller than her so she was kinda little in comparison.

"I was looking for my friends, I was going to see if they had found their weapons yet?" Yang replied, causing Sarge to laugh slightly.

"Ha, little girls like you running around with weapons?" Sarge laughed. "If there anywhere, they'll be in the armoury, but what weapons would little girls like you even use? Hairbrushes?"

Sarge was nearly laughing himself to death, leaning on his knees to stop himself from falling over.

"Actually, just a pair of wrist mounted shotguns!" Yang replied, a smug smile on her face. Sarge immediately stopped laughing and stared at Yang.

"Say what?" he managed to say, obviously a hint of disbelief in his voice.

Yang flexed her wrist slightly, activating Ember Cilica. Sarge was in complete awe at the weapon, he looked lost for words.

"Where'd you get those beauties?" Sarge finally said, standing at full height again, his eyes never leaving the weapons.

"Made them myself!" Yang proudly said. Sarge just stared in awe and disbelief, before turning to face Yang.

"You and I need to have a long, hard talk about shotgun fists..."

 **00000000**

 **Unidentified Alien Temple, Chorus**

Deep in the Armonia's mountain range, Charon Industries mercenary force watched over one of the alien temples. Both soldiers and scientists wandered around the courtyard, into and out of temporary bunkers and barracks, going about their daily business. Near one of the many entrances of the grounds, was an underground cell built by the predecessors of Chorus, capable of holding a large number of prisoners. The temple itself was tall, towering above the trees, orange energy sparking in and out of the structure. At it's base was the means of entering and exiting the temple. A large expansive corridor that split off into three smaller corridors. All the corridors rejoined just before the control room, but the one on the left had a pathway that led to an underground hangar which was filled with Pelicans and Warthogs while the one on the right had a room that was previously a barracks for the aliens. The control room itself was large and circular, a beam of energy in the centre with a control panel nearby. The room itself was large enough to hold at least over fifty people, but now, only two did.

"Unbelievable! Un-Fucking-Believable!" one of the pirates said, walking back and forth in the room. His armour was unlike the other pirates and had more defined edges and sharp points. His helmet looked like it had been squashed slightly, with two sharp points at the top and bottom and a black visor in between. Rather than just the dull grey that most of the pirates wore, he had multiple orange stripes running along.

"Control yourself!" the other pirate sternly replied, his voice deep and menacing in stark contrast to his partners rather coarse voice. His armour was more round and bulky, yet also loose enough to allow the wearer to move freely without restraint. The most noticeable feature was the helmet, which looked almost like a skull with a single, small black slit being the only means of vision. Like his partner, his armour was also not pure grey, but sage instead.

"Easy for you to say, mister 'I'm so serious'!" the grey and orange merc replied, angering his colleague even further. "I could be anywhere right now, anywhere! I should be in the Bahamas, or at a strip club, or anywhere else exotic and hot! But no! I'm stuck on this backwater of a planet in the middle of nowhere!" the merc stopped and growled slightly. "I hope you know this is your fault Locus!"

"My fault?!" the merc known as Locus asked angrily. "Educate me, Felix! How is this my fault!?"

"Well, if you had just gone and killed your 'special friend' Washington, we wouldn't be in this mess!" Felix replied, a hint of venom in his voice. "But no! You just had to ask him special questions like 'Do you like me?' and shit!"

Locus was now moving towards Felix at a fast pace, his hands clenching into fists.

"If I recall, it was your ego that stopped you from killing the simulation troopers! You just had to brag about our victory, before it even happened, and blew both of our cover! If anything, it's your fault we're still here!" Locus retorted, his head mere inches from Felix's.

Both mercenaries growled at one another, they'd spatted with one another before but never had it reached this point. Both mercs watched each other intensely, waiting for the other to back down.

"Uh, is this a bad time sirs?" a new voice said. Both Felix and Locus turned to the source of the voice and found a lone Pirate watching. The pirate looked like a young child who had just walked in on his parents fighting.

"What? Of course not!" Felix said cheerily, wrapping his arm around Locus' shoulder, slightly phasing the no nonsense merc. "Me and Locus here were just talking, ain't that right buddy?" Felix continued, using his free arm to lightly punch Locus in the shoulder.

Locus stared at Felix with a look of hatred before shrugging off his partners arm and walking forward to address the Pirate.

"Report soldier, what is it?"

It took a while for the pirate to compose himself, standing to attention before speaking.

"Jackson just reported in sir, and he's found something interesting!"

Felix walked forward, slightly intrigued.

"What is it?" Felix asked, the pirate turning to face him as he spoke.

"It'll be easier to show you, sirs."

 **00000000**

 **Well, another chapter done! This one was a little harder to write but I got there eventually! On to another piece of business, Lopez will be making a physical appearance in the next chapter and I would like to ask you on your opinion on how I write what he says. Should I write it like:**

 **a) Spanish with no indication on what he's actually saying.**

 **b) Spanish and what he's saying in English in brackets, e.g.- "Hola. (Hello.)"**

 **c) English in bold italics to differentiate him when he's speaking from either Freckles or Epsilon.**

 **PM me your opinion or write it in a review but until then, don't forget to review and remember, constructive criticism is welcomed.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	4. New Toys

**Another day, another chapter. First of all, as of this post, this fan-fic now has 36 reviews! Admittedly, 11 of those reviews came from one guy and another was literally the letter 'b' so...yeah. Onto other news, the people have voted on the great Lopez the Heavy and he will speak...well you'll find out soon enough. Anyway, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 4:- New Toys**

Locus and Felix followed the pirate through the temple corridors. There was nothing but silence between the trio. The duo had no idea what the pirate wanted to show them, or why he couldn't just tell them.

"This better be worth it...for your sake!" Felix quietly warned as they exited the temple, the midday sun glinting off their armour as the pirate continued walking forward.

"Y-yes sir!" the pirate sputtered out, worry weaved in his voice. The pirate stopped in the middle of the courtyard, the two leaders looking around for any out of the ordinary object.

"I give up, is it invisible?" Felix asked, raising his hands slightly in mock surrender. Almost immediately, a loud grinding noise echoed around them. Everyone turned to the western gate, which was beginning to open slowly. Almost immediately, Jackson and his troop came marching through followed by...prisoners?

Most of the captives, save for two, were wearing a uniform of some sort. White body armour covered their chest while a black hooded jumper of some sort went underneath. Black combat trousers covered their legs along with a pair of military grade boots, some of which had knife sheaths attached to them. Steel bracers covered their fore-arms while a mask shaped like a skull covered the upper half of their face. But that wasn't what caught everyone's attention. While the prisoners looked human, there were multiple appendages that clearly belonged to animals attached. Deer horns, monkey tails, cat ears, you name it! Locus and Felix stared in complete awe at the sight they were seeing.

"All right, this was totally worth it..." Felix whispered, earning a grateful sigh from the pirate escort. Felix then walked forward until he was directly next to Locus. "Recognise the uniform?" he whispered. The repetitive use of black and white made him think Fed soldiers, but he had never seen anything like them in the field.

"No, never seen anything like them." Locus quickly answered. Felix guessed as much, the animal body-parts were really the big give away.

"Then where did they come from?" Felix asked, worry strong in his voice. These people had seemingly come out of nowhere and ended up on Chorus which to Felix was worrying.

"Only one way to find out..." Locus replied, walking towards Jackson while also ignoring his partner.

"Great to see you're on typical douche-bag form, as always!" Felix jeered, flicking a quick middle finger at Locus before joining him.

Locus continued forward, ignoring his partners insult as well as the murmurs from his fellow colleagues. He only stopped when he was nearly face to face with the leader of the troop: Jackson.

"Locus, Felix, thought you might like these." the pirate stated, gesturing to the captives as he spoke.

"Who are they?" Locus asked, he wouldn't play around with words like Felix, he was straight to the point.

"No idea. One minute they weren't there, the next its raining bodies." Jackson replied.

'Unfortunate…' Locus thought, he had hoped for an answer but all he got was more questions.

"But," Jackson started, interrupting Locus' train of thought, "they did have some fancy new toys.". This immediately gained Locus and Felix's attention. Jackson whistled to one of the pirates, who in return handed him a teleportation cube. Jackson activated the cube and almost immediately a stockpile of weaponry, the likes of which neither of them had ever seen before, materialised before them.

"Holy crap, looks like Christmas came early!" Felix joyfully said, kneeling down to examine the weapons.

"What should we do with them?" Jackson asked, shrugging towards the prisoners. Locus pondered for a moment, their orders were to eliminate all inhabitants but as far as he could tell, this was unheard of. Charon would have to be notified of this discovery, but in the meantime…

"Send them into Containment, keep them under guard until further notice." Locus ordered, gaining a nod from Jackson who quickly relayed the order. Locus turned to Felix who was still engrossed on the weaponry before him. "Gather the gear up, lets see what we've got."

 **00000000**

 **Armonia, Main Armoury**

Ruby and Weiss waited patiently at the curb outside the armoury. As far as she could tell, Grif had probably died halfway back, Simmons got distracted by an outdated web browser and Caboose was on his sixtieth lap of the city.

'Man, that guy sure does run fast…' Ruby thought as Caboose ran past them again. Ruby turned to see Weiss fidgeting with Myrtenaster, ensuring the scientists hadn't damaged it while running their tests on the weapon.

"What's wrong?" Weiss asked, barely turning her head to face Ruby.

"Nothing..." Ruby lied, gaining a quick sigh from Weiss who stopped tinkering with the Rapier and turned her full attention to Ruby before raising an eyebrow.

"Ruby, I know when you're lying. You give off a bunch of weird signals and you're doing all of them." Weiss stated, glaring at Ruby. Ruby looked left to right, clearly nervous. She then sighed in defeat, clearly having been beaten.

"Well...It's jus-" Ruby was interrupted by quick and rapid panting. Both huntresses turned to see Simmons who merely stared at them while Grif had nearly keeled over, clearly the source of the panting.

"Oh god...oh god...remind me to kill...whoever made...sprint a...button..." Grif managed to say between breaths.

"Wait...what?" Simmons inquired, clearly just as confused as everyone else.

"Just...ignore me...my brain...is suffering...from lack of...oxygen..." Grif replied, nearly falling forward at the statement.

"Yeah, I hate it when that happens!" Caboose chimed in, having finished running and appeared to look no worse for wear.

"All right, should we look for Yang now?" Ruby asked, seemingly back to her normal self.

"I still...demand to know...who the fuck is Yang?" Grif said, having slightly recovered from his torturous trek.

"Are you on about the blonde girl who was here a moment ago?"

Ruby, Weiss, Grif, Simmons and Caboose turned to the sound of the new voice. Standing before them was a man wearing a pink version of Grif and Simmons armour and behind him was what was assumed to be an android of some sort. The armour was coloured brown and was notably bulkier but the helmet was the same as his comrades.

" **¿No es obvio? La rubia con las tetas grandes, dijo que su nombre era Yang y que ella estaba buscando a sus amigos.** **(Isn't it obvious? The blonde with the big tits said her name was Yang and that she she was looking for her friends.)"** the robot asked, clearly aware everyone present couldn't understand him.

"Good idea Lopez, we should introduce ourselves to establish a better line of communication!" the flamboyant pink man replied, rushing forward to the confused group.

" **Vete a la mierda… (Fuck you...)"** Lopez replied before joining his comrade.

"Aww, I love you to Lopez!" the man happily replied.

"Great, these two..." Grif solemnly stated, followed by Simmons sighing in apparent defeat.

"Errr, who are you?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow as she spoke. The pink soldier turned to face her before speaking.

"The names Donut and I must say, that is a beautiful skirt!" the man said as he looked Ruby up and down.

"Oh, errr, thanks I think..." Ruby replied sheepishly. Not many people complemented her choice of clothing so it was strange to actually be noticed for it.

"But seriously, loose the combat boots they just ruin the whole look!" Donut finished before turning to Weiss "And don't even get me started on your choice of style!"

"What are you-" Weiss began before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Grif and Simmons practically begging.

"Please don't, because he will not shut up!" Grif pleaded.

"This one time, he spent the entire day complaining about the colour pallet of our armour! Some shit about 'Autumn' or something!" Simmons added.

Ruby and Weiss looked at one another before deciding that for once, Grif and Simmons were right.

"Who's the robot?" Ruby asked, pointing towards the brown armoured soldier.

" **Hola, mi nombre es López el Heavy. (Hello, my name is Lopez the Heavy.)"** Lopez replied, looking on as everyone just gave him a blank stare.

" **Más personas que no saben Español. Excelente. (More people who don't know Spanish. Great.)"** Lopez remarked almost sarcastically.

"His names Lopez, and we're best buds! Ain't that right Lopez?" Donut said, turning to the droid for confirmation.

" **Amigo es una palabra grande. Yo diría que somos más Conocidos. (Friend is a big word. I would say we are more acquaintances.)"** was Lopez's quick reply.

Ruby and Weiss looked at one another in slight confusion before turning to face Donut again.

"You mentioned you saw a blonde woman here a moment ago?" Ruby asked, interrupting the conversation.

"That's right!" Donut replied, turning to face the group aswell.

"By any chance did she ask for something called 'Ember Cilica'?" Ruby asked again.

"Great, another nerd who names their weapon..." Grif half-heartedly said, irking both Ruby and Weiss slightly.

"You mean the shotgun gloves?" Donut asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Yes!" Ruby joyfully replied, pointing a finger at Donut in victory.

"Yeah, asked about two girls saying she was looking for them. You wouldn't happen to know them would you?" Donut asked, causing Ruby and Weiss to sigh slightly.

"She was on about us..." Ruby said in defeat.

"Oh, that makes sense I guess..." Donut replied, still cheer in his voice.

"Did she say where she was going?" Weiss asked, realising her partner was somewhat exhausted by the soldiers naivety.

"I wasn't really paying attention, I was too busy looking at her hair. Man was that stuff well kept..." Donut dreamily replied.

"Yeah, she does love her hair..." Ruby laughed, rubbing the back of her head slightly.

"But she could have done without those clothes in my opinion." Donut finished, catching both Ruby and Weiss off guard.

"Dude, that's my sister you're talking about!" Ruby shouted almost disgustedly.

"Wait for it..." Grif interrupted, causing Ruby and Weiss to look at him in confusion.

"That doesn't excuse her poor fashion sense! I mean seriously, what is this, 21st Century? I don't think so!" Donut continued to ramble, causing Ruby and Weiss to sigh in slight relief.

" **Hablando de la chica rubia, que está en su camino aquí con Sarge. (Speaking of the blonde chick, she's on her way here with Sarge.)"** Lopez butted in, unaware of the current conversation.

"You're right Lopez, red and white armour would have been better than what she's wearing!" Donut replied, turning his attention to the robot.

" **¿Esperar lo? (Wait, what?)"**

"All right, were do you think she would go Weiss?" Ruby asked, ignoring Lopez.

"I've no idea, she could be anywhere." Weiss replied, ignoring the gestures Lopez was making.

"It'll take us hours to search the entire city, especially with only four of us! Five if you count Caboose for some reason!" Simmons rebutted.

"Hello." Caboose said, his first real involvement in the conversation.

" **Ella es, literalmente, a la vuelta de la esquina! Se le tomará un segundo o dos para encontrarla! (She's literally just around the corner! It'll take you a second or two to find her!)"** Lopez replied almost exasperatedly.

"Not now Lopez!" Grif snapped, turning to face the group again.

"All right, we should split up and search a segment of the city before coming back here in an hour." Weiss suggested, gaining approving nods from everyone.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Ruby, Weiss, Grif, Simmons, Caboose, Donut and Lopez turned and saw Yang standing with her arms crossed with Sarge not far behind.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted happily, rushing towards her and nearly toppling the blonde brawler over.

"That seemed anti-climatic..." Donut whispered.

"Why didn't you tell us Lopez?" Grif accusingly questioned the robot.

"You've failed us big times here you old pile of rust!" Simmons insulted before walking off with the rest of the group.

" **Voy a matar a todos poco a poco, empezando por el rosado. (I am going to kill you all slowly, starting with the pink one.)"** Lopez promised in a menacing tone.

"No point apologising Lopez, it's a little late for that now!" Donut shouted back to the robot.

" **Y voy a disfrutarlo! (And I'll enjoy it!)"** Lopez quickly rebutted, turning to join the others. As the huntresses caught up with one another, Sarge turned his attention to red team.

"Grif, Simmons, I need your help in a dire mission of utmost importance!" Sarge said, causing the two soldiers to merely look at one another before facing Sarge.

"I'm afraid to ask, but what is this mission?" Grif questioned, gaining the full attention of Sarge.

"Gentlemen, I am going to construct a set of shotgun gauntlets!" Sarge stated in a rather confident manner. Simmons and Grif merely looked at the Sarge, believing he may have finally succumbed to madness.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked..." Grif whispered to himself.

"Wait, if you're going to build them, why do you need us?" Simmons asked, fearing he already knew the answer. Sarge merely laughed before speaking.

"I may be building them, but I need some idiots to test them on now don't I?" Sarge almost happily replied, causing Grif to sigh in defeat.

"Oh, can we come as well?" Donut asked, gesturing to both himself and Lopez.

"Of course, could use another test subje- I mean 'volunteer' to test the weapons when they're finished...and someone to clean up the mess afterwards." Sarge said, looking at Lopez for the last part.

"Whatever, lets get this over with." Grif muttered, heading to the workshop.

"Ah quit your belly aching dirt-bag!" Sarge replied, followed by Simmons and Donut.

" **Esta puede ser la mejor peor idea que he tenido. (This may be the best worst idea you've ever had.)"** Lopez said, before he followed in after them. Now standing outside the armoury was Weiss, Ruby, Yang and Caboose who merely watched as the red's disappeared into the building.

"So, how's it been?" Yang asked, turning to face Ruby and Weiss.

"Guys, we need to talk..." Weiss said, causing Yang and Ruby to look at her.

"What would you like to talk about?" Caboose asked, slightly startling the huntresses, having completely forgotten the Blue soldiers presence.

"Not with you, with my friends!" Weiss hissed slightly.

"Yeah I don't see the difference." Caboose replied, causing Weiss to growl slightly.

"Caboose," Ruby said, gaining the soldiers attention. "What Weiss is trying to say is...what are you staring at?" The huntresses followed Caboose's gaze and found him staring at Yang's breasts.

"Hey, eyes up here dimwit!" Yang shouted, using her arms to cover her chest.

"Oh I'm sorry, your chest is...really distracting for some reason." Caboose apologised, turning to face Ruby again.

"Caboose," Ruby started again. "I want you too...oh for goodness sake, stop staring at Yang's breasts!"

"Sorry...sorry..." Caboose said yet again. He looked around before staring at Ruby again. "Hello!"

Ruby sighed, placing her hand on her forehead in defeat.

"Caboose, I need you to listen VERY carefully to me." Weiss said, gaining Caboose's attention.

"I have been told I am an excellent listener!" Caboose stated confidently.

"Yeah, we noticed." Yang deadpanned, her arms still crossed over her chest.

"I just spoke to your friend Church." Weiss said. After Caboose had started calling her 'Lady Church', she assumed that there was a 'Church' that Caboose was very close to. And judging from his reaction, the assumption was correct.

"You did?" Caboose asked almost immediately. "Did you notice the resemblance?"

"Yes I did Caboose." Weiss lied. She was by far the worst liar in the group but Caboose was eating it up. "But he didn't see the resemblance, so why don't you go tell him how wrong he is."

"Oh, Church is never wrong! But then again, you are a lady version of Church so you can't be wrong either...where is he?" Caboose quickly asked, leaving no time to pause and think over what he was saying.

"On the other side of the city." Weiss replied, a small grin on her face.

"Okay, don't worry Church, I'm coming!" Caboose shouted, before running off into the armoury.

"Wrong way!" Weiss shouted as a loud banging noise was heard in the workshop.

"I knew that!" Caboose shouted as he ran out the workshop and to the other side of the city. Weiss waited a few seconds before deciding it was safe.

"Okay, now we can talk." Weiss said, turning to face her friends as Yang unfolded her arms.

"Was it just me or was that guy a little slow?" Yang asked, cocking her head slightly.

"Yeah..." Ruby sighed, rubbing her temple. Yang simply shrugged before turning to Weiss.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Yang asked, turning the attention to the Heiress.

"We need to talk about Blake..." Weiss said.

The joyful look on Yangs face disappeared almost immediately. "What about her?" Yang enquired.

"Don't you think it's a little strange that we're here yet Blake is nowhere to be found?" Weiss asked.

"Not really, why?" Yang asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.

"Think about it, a half human half animal creature lands on your doorstep and is nearly dead from exhaustion. Also take into account that she is surrounded by a shield of natural energy and can generate a clone of herself. Wouldn't you want to know what makes something like that 'tick'?" Weiss summarised, raising an eyebrow at the end of the sentence.

"That's an unlikely scenario!" Yang rebutted. "Besides, what about the White Fang and Torchwick? We haven't seen them around have we?"

"Who says they aren't being experimented on as well?" Weiss countered.

"Well we think these guys are telling the truth, right Ruby?" Yang said, crossing her arms. Yang then turned to Ruby, wondering what was taking her sister so long to answer. "Ruby?"

Ruby looked around sheepishly, her hands behind her back while she twirled her foot in a small circle. "I'm sorry Yang, but I'm kinda with Weiss on this one..." She finally said, shocking Yang.

"What! But these guys saved you!" Yang exclaimed, holding her arms out in disbelief.

"Just because they saved me, doesn't mean we can trust them! Dad always said never trust strangers and that's what we're doing!" Ruby replied, causing Yang to look away in slight disgust.

"Look, the point is we won't find out the truth just standing around here talking about it!" Weiss interrupted. Yang and Ruby looked at one another before sighing and turning to Weiss.

"I suppose you have a plan?" Yang asked half-heartedly.

"As a matter of fact, I do."

 **00000000**

 **Unidentified Alien Temple**

Locus and Felix had left one of the scientists to play around and study the weaponry for about an hour now. The two space pirates entered the mock up lab made by the scientist, who was being watched by Jackson and two other pirates.

"So, what have we got?" Felix questioned, causing the scientist to turn and face him.

"Nothing much, I'm afraid." the scientist replied. "Most of the gear here, while exotic in design, doesn't carry as much fire-power as the hybrid weapons do."

"Most of these weapons are just melee weapons though..." Felix said, gesturing to the weapon pile behind him.

"Exactly my point." the scientist replied, causing Felix to tilt his head back in slight confusion.

"Can anything be salvaged?" Locus asked, ignoring his comrades confusion.

"I'm afraid not, all the gear hear isn't compatible with our own. The only ammo clips that will fit are the ones carried by these...things." the pirate replied, a hint of disgust as he referred to the prisoners.

Felix sighed and lowered his head in defeat. "So much for Christmas, now it's just the opposite of Christmas..." Felix said, shaking his head in defeat.

"Hanukkah?" one of the space pirates asked.

"I wasn't asking dumb ass!" Felix said, clearly agitated.

"Actually, it wasn't all a complete failure." the scientist clarified, gaining Locus and Felix's attention once again. The scientist turned around and produced a simple looking cane.

"A cane? Is that it? What, you expect us to beat them like a bad kid at school?" Felix asked, his voice rising slightly.

The scientist merely clasped his hand on the base of the cane and aimed the handle at one of the pirates legs. The pirate went to move, but was stopped by Locus. The scientist pressed a button and the handle shot forward, hooking itself onto the pirates ankle.

"What the-"

The scientist let go of the button and the handle zipped back to the cane, knocking the pirate off his feet.

"Okay, that was pretty cool..." Felix chuckled as the pirate began to get back up.

"So it works somewhat like the grapple gun?" Locus theorised, gesturing to the very device attached to Jacksons right thigh.

"In a way, yes." the scientist replied.

"Does it have any other properties?" Locus enquired.

"We also discovered that the 'cane' also fires a volatile projectile that explodes upon contact." the scientist added. "I...will not demonstrate it for obvious reasons." the scientist added, causing the previous 'test subject' to sigh in relief.

"While that was pretty cool and all, anything else that could be of use?" Felix asked, causing Locus to turn to him before reverting his gaze to the scientist.

The scientist turned around again and produced a long grey and black katana with a long black ribbon on the hilt.

"A sword? Please tell me that isn't it?" Felix asked, clearly unimpressed with the weapon.

The scientist pressed a button on the hilt of the blade and almost immediately it transformed into a long barrelled pistol.

"Impressive..." Locus said, taking the weapon and examining it carefully.

"Now that is awesome!" Felix said, turning to the pile of weapons and picking up a menacing short sword. "What about this one doc? Does it transform from a sword into a death laser or something?"

"No, that's just a normal sword..." the scientist sheepishly replied.

Felix merely dropped the weapon and gave a look to everyone in the room that said they were dead if anyone ever found out about this embarrassing moment.

"Jackson, who did these weapons belong to?" Locus asked as he checked the chamber of the recently acquired pistol before morphing it back into its katana form.

Jackson clicked a few buttons on his left wrist as a holographic image of two individuals came up. One was a man in his mid thirties, wearing what could only be described as a gentlemen's attire. The other was a girl, perhaps seventeen. She had long black hair with a matching black bow on top. She wore a black and white skirt and trouser combo whilst black ribbons wrapped around her fore-arms.

"Prisoner one-eight and prisoner one-nine." Jackson replied. "When we initially found the group, the girl seemed to be their prisoner. Called her a traitor and all sorts." Locus looked on at the holograms, their image being burnt into his brain. If any of the prisoners were to speak, then it would most likely be these two. Locus' train of thought was interrupted yet again, this time by his helmet comms.

" _Locus, this is Tower Security. We got Feds and Republicans on our western border, they aren't too close but could find us by accident."_

"How many?" Locus asked.

" _About ten of them, sending you and Felix co-ordinates now."_ the pirate on the other side of the comms replied. Almost immediately, Locus' helm lit up with a message of a set of co-ordinates.

"Felix, take a group of men and deal with the intruders." Locus said, turning to leave the building and gesturing Jackson to follow him.

"Yeah, and what are you going to do?" Felix asked as Locus passed through the doorway.

"To get some answers..."

 **00000000**

 **Unknown Alien Temple, Containment Facility**

Blake sat in the cell and focused on remaining calm. This was a nightmare scenario that she had been trained for, all members of the White Fang had been trained for. While they would rather die, in the event of capture, it was preached that you must remain calm. Anger would only lead to further retaliation from the captors but most importantly, you must remain patient! Patience, it seemed, was a virtue the White Fang did not possess. The White Fang were all banging on their cells, yelling insults to their captors.

'Looks like meditation is out of the question.' Blake thought to herself. She turned and watched as the White Fang continued to make a fuss inside their cells. Each cell was square shaped with a low roof at a measly seven foot. In the centre of the roof was a single circular light that flickered on and off from time to time. The walls to her left, right and back were completely bare while in front of her was the cells entrance. Unlike most cells which had bars or a door, in front of her was a one-way shield. The captors could enter if necessary, but nothing could get out. Suddenly, she heard the sound of a door opening and turned. She saw two figures walk down the steps.

The first she immediately recognised as the leader of the squad that captured her, Jackson she believed he was called. The second however, she had seen only briefly upon arriving, but now she was getting a good clear look at him.

He was slightly taller than the other soldiers in the area and seemed to stand with a sense of authority around him, the leader perhaps. On his back were two weapons, one was a pump action shotgun while the other looked somewhat like a Tommy Gun, whilst strapped to his right thigh was a pistol. His armour was also different to the others. While it was still grey, it had a green trim in multiple parts of the armour. In addition to a different colour scheme, his armour was large and bulky, whilst also allowing enough movement to be somewhat flexible. But the most eye-catching thing about him was his helmet. It looked almost eerily like those worn by Atlesian soldiers, but there was a mouthpiece attached that made the helmet almost look like a skull. The soldier walked a few feet before stopping in front of Blake's and Torchwick's cell.

"Take these two, we have a few questions to ask." The soldier said. His voice was deep and menacing, which wasn't helped by the voice filter the soldier had.

Two of the soldiers began to press a few buttons on the outside of the door and the shield deactivated. Before Blake could even move the soldier grabbed her arm and dragged her out, throwing her on the floor. Blake took a sharp inhale upon falling. Her ankle, while it had slightly healed, still hurt like hell. The soldier picked her up and shoved her forward.

"Move it!" the man ordered, prodding her with the barrel of his rifle. Blake moved and saw that Torchwick had received more or less the same treatment, causing her to slightly smile. As they were escorted away, one of the White Fang seemed to get their attention.

"Fucking cowards, why don't you unlock this door and see who comes out on top in a real fight!"

The escort stopped as the leader turned to face the White Fang. He was young, early twenties perhaps. He wore the basic garments of a White Fang recruit while a set of bull horns tore through the hood. The leader stopped mere inches from the cell, his calm posture a stark contrast to the bull faunus rash attitude.

"Is that a threat?" the soldier asked, his voice almost robotic.

"More like a promise you little piece of-"

 _BANG!_

The leader stood there holding out his pistol, smoke leaving the barrel. The White Fang slowly slumped to the floor, a red hole the size of a golf ball in the centre of his head. The other White Fang looked on in horror as the soldier raised his pistol looking around the cells. Confident his work was done, he placed the pistol back onto his thigh before moving forward. Blake could only hope that whatever the soldier had in store for her, it was nowhere near as gruelling as that…

 **00000000**

 **Well, another chapter complete. Sorry if these past chapters have seemed a little slow, but if I have action in almost every chapter I feel like I'm taking away from the important fight scenes that will occur later on. In the meantime, don't forget to leave your reviews and constructive criticism is welcome. If you have any questions about the fic, don't be afraid to PM me and I will either get back to you in a reply or the next chapter. And to any Rooster Teeth sponsors out there, I hope you enjoy RWBY Volume Three.**

 **Edit: I have no idea what happened with the text wall at all. I did what I usually do with chapters but it somehow managed to fuck it up. Hopefully fixed it now.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	5. Hunting the Truth

**Trick or Treat, bitches! It's Halloween! Hope you all enjoyed the first episode of RWBY Volume 3 and are enjoying Halo 5: Guardians as well. As promised, I will take the time to answer some questions left in the reviews. FanFictionHunter: I don't plan on having the Grif Shot replicated at this moment in time but that may change, just don't hold your breath. Thaqif: I don't know what 'Fairy Tail' is and I will only be writing fics on franchises I'm comfortable with and know enough about. For a list of fics I intend to do, see my profile page. As for your second question, I feel like while both Felix and Torchwick have something in common, Felix is way more of a dick about it. Before we get started, I feel like there is something I should tell you guys. I may not update next week as it's Blizzcon on November 6th-7th. I will try, but thought I should tell you in case I don't. Also, some people may find this chapter a bit...disturbing. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 5- Hunting the Truth**

Night had fallen over the city of Armonia. The once crowded city was now being tended to by the night shift, a handful of guards who ensured that peace was kept while the soldiers of Chorus slept. The only noise was the scuffling of feet and the chirping of crickets. Ruby quietly wandered the streets, looking around for any sign of a patrol. Content that they were alone, she let out a single whistle. Yang and Weiss left the shadows and joined Ruby, who pointed towards a large building being guarded by two heavily armoured New Republic soldiers. The building was large with multiple antennae on the roof and in bold white writing was the word 'SECURITY'.

"That must be the place!" Weiss whispered, pointing to said building.

"Really? What gave it away?" Yang whispered sarcastically. She was convinced that her team mates were being paranoid but came along anyway. The team had nearly been torn apart before because of something as silly as a different opinion on a matter, she'd be damned if she was the cause of a second break-up.

"Quiet you!" Weiss hissed, glaring daggers at Yang as she spoke.

"How do we get in? We can't just knock the guards out, the entire city will be after us!" Ruby asked, scanning the building with her eyes.

Weiss narrowed her eyes as she also searched the building for a weak spot of any sort.

"A building this large must have a ventilation shaft of some form..." Weiss deducted, scanning the building for any grated panels. She continued to search, until something caught her eye in the middle of the buildings left side. "Found it!" Weiss whispered, pointing to the shaft while Ruby and Yang followed her finger.

"How the hell do we get up there!" Yang asked, making sure to keep her voice low. The ventilation shaft was too high up to jump but there was no leverage nearby to aid in the jump.

"You could lift us up there." Weiss retorted.

"Then how do I get up there?" Yang asked more exasperated.

"We'll figure something out!" Weiss replied.

"What about those crates?" Ruby asked, pointing to a pile of crates that were stacked nearby. The crates looked high enough for them to jump on and then subsequently reach the ventilation shaft.

"I would just like to say that none of us saw those until Ruby pointed it out..." Yang said, causing Weiss to nod in agreement.

"Come on!" Ruby whispered. The huntresses stuck to the shadows to draw little attention to themselves. After taking multiple diversions, the huntresses were on the left side of the building near the crates and shaft.

"You think you can lift these?" Weiss asked, turning to Yang who merely smirked.

"About time! You know what they say, good things come to those who _weight_!" Yang said, laughing to herself until she saw everyone staring at her with an unamused look.

"Really Yang?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow at her sisters terrible pun.

"Yeah..." Yang groaned, sheepishly smiling as Weiss and Ruby continued to stare at her. "I'll just...move the crates."

Yang walked towards the crate and grabbed both ends. The crate didn't look too heavy, she would have it moved in no time. She lifted the crate...and nearly buckled under its weight. Every muscle in her body tensed as she barely managed to lift the crate off the floor.

'Why is...this...so damn...heavy!' Yang thought to herself. She'd never had a problem with heavy lifting before, she'd lifted heavier things on her own without the aid of her semblance! What was wrong with this place? Eventually, she managed to move the crate up against the wall, stopping to take deep breaths while also massaging her joints.

"Are you okay?" Ruby asked, her face wrought with worry. Weiss had also noticed and gave Yang a questioning look.

"I'm fine...just a...little out of...breath." Yang reassured. Finding out about Blake was more important then figuring out her semblance problem.

Yang jumped onto the crate and grabbed the vent grating and pulled, ripping it off while also causing a large amount of noise. The huntresses tensed up as they heard the guards move slightly.

"What was that?!" one of them shouted.

"Relax, probably just a rat." the second replied.

"This place is a military grade security compound! What type of rat makes that much noise?" the first one asked.

"Space rats?" the second replied, seemingly unsure of his own answer.

"I can buy that..." the first one eventually said after a short silence.

The huntresses breathed out a sigh of relief as Yang climbed into the vent, followed by Weiss and Ruby.

"Oh god, this place smells like the old Schnee factories!" Weiss said in disgust, gagging at the horrific stench.

"It smells like Zwei after he's been out in the rain!" Ruby complained, pinching her nose to block out the smell.

"Weiss, stop brushing my leg! It's really distracting!" Yang said as the huntresses continued crawling.

"What are you talkin- wait, something just touched my hand!" Weiss said, freezing almost immediately. The huntresses all stopped and stared at Weiss' hand. In front of Weiss was a large, reptilian looking rodent with sharp dagger like teeth and blood red eyes.

"SPACE RAT!" the huntresses screamed, crawling faster to get away from the extraterrestrial rodent. The huntresses continued to crawl until a loud groaning sound erupted under Yang.

"Uh oh..." Yang muttered, before the vent gave way to their combined weight.

 **00000000**

A pair of Fed technicians sat monitoring the multiple radio frequencies in and around Armonia, checking for anything unusual. Suddenly, a dull thud was heard outside the room.

"You hear something?" one of them asked, turning to his partner.

"Huh?" the second muttered, barely turning from his screen.

"never mind..." the first fed said, focusing his attention back on the monitor.

 **00000000**

"Phew, that was close." Yang sighed, brushing dust off her clothes. Weiss shuddered as she wiped her hand on a nearby rag, trying to burn the image of the horrific rodent out of her mind.

"At least we're inside the compound." Ruby said, looking around before turning to Weiss. "Now what?"

"We need to find the camera feeds for the city, that way we can find out what really happened!" Weiss said, turning to face a door that led into a corridor. Yang and Ruby followed Weiss through the door and entered a long corridor that seemed to span on endlessly.

"This place is a lot bigger on the inside..." Yang whispered, looking at each individual door.

"It'll take hours to search this place, who knows how many levels of this place there are!" Weiss complained, raising her hands exasperatedly.

"Hey Weiss, what room did you say we were looking for?" Ruby asked.

"The camera feeds, it's most likely in a room with the word 'video' or something on the door." Weiss replied, still stunned at the amount of effort it would take to search the complex.

"You mean like this one?" Ruby asked. Weiss turned to Ruby who was pointing at a door that read 'Security Feed Storage'. Weiss just stared, gob smacked at how simple it was to find the room.

"Oh..." Weiss muttered as she walked towards the door and opened it.

"That was a bit anti-climatic..." Yang said as she followed Weiss and Ruby.

The huntresses closed the door behind them and stared at the room. The room was a mess with multiple monitors showcasing the cities night life which to say the least, was pretty dull. Attached to the monitors was a computer which had been left on. Weiss hesitantly approached the console and began searching through the documents, until she came across a document entitled 'video feeds'.

"Found it!" Weiss whispered, clicking it and scrolling through the documents. She came across the most resent entry entitled '28/10/2558'. "Lets see what they're hiding..."

Upon opening the document, she was greeted by multiple video documents.

"They said they found us at the western entrance, search for that." Ruby said, everyone's attention drawn to the console. Weiss scrolled through the documents until she found a video feed entitled 'Western Gate Camera Feed'.

"Everyone ready?" Weiss whispered, turning to her friends. Ruby and Yang nodded in response. "Okay, here it goes." Weiss said, as she clicked the document. The screen immediately changed to that of grainy video footage. They could make out a Fed and a Republican standing guard outside the gate.

" _Hey."_ the Fed said.

" _Yeah?"_ the Republican replied.

" _You ever wonder why we're here?"_

"Can we, like, just skip this bit?" Yang asked.

"No..." Weiss sighed as the conversation continued unabated.

Yang groaned in defeat as the huntresses continued to watch the feed. The conversation drew out for some time until the soldiers began to act panicked. This caught the huntresses attention almost immediately. In the far corner of the screen, a bright white light appeared. Seconds later. Another much closer to the gate appeared. The huntresses narrowed their eyes as smoke and dust filled the screen. The dust settled, revealing three forms laying motionlessly in a small crater.

"That's us..." Ruby said "But where's Blake?"

Weiss sighed in defeat while Yang looked on, a small frown on her face. Ruby eventually caught on as a small tear escaped her eyes.

"They were telling the truth, weren't they?" she asked, turning to face her sister and partner.

"I'm sorry Ruby..." Yang said apologetically, embracing her sister in a hug.

"We should leave, it'll be dawn soon..." Weiss finally said. Yang and Ruby nodded and turned to leave the room.

" **WARNING! SECURITY FEED STORAGE ENTERING LOCK-DOWN!"** a synthesised female voice announced, startling the huntresses.

"What?" Yang asked, a puzzled look on her face.

A loud grinding noise caught their attention as a large and thick metal slab descended from the top of the door. The door shut with a hissing noise as Yang began to bang on the door, but her hits were doing more damage to herself than the door.

"Open up!" Yang shouted, delivering a large and powerful punch to the door. She screamed in pain as her fist resounded off the door. Yang grabbed her hand and looked to see her knuckles were bleeding, a visible blood print on the door.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, rushing to her sisters side. She stared at her sisters hand as her eyes widened in horror. "Why isn't your Aura working?" she asked, as she began to wipe the blood off her knuckle.

"I...I don't know..." Yang replied.

The three huntresses looked worriedly at the door. They knew a response team would be arriving soon, and they dreaded the consequences.

 **00000000**

Blake struggled to keep her eyes open. She dug her nails into the palm of her hands, knowing loosing consciousness could result in death. Yet despite the fact she was drawing blood, the pain was nothing but a dull sensation in contrast to the pain already inflicted. Her hands had been cuffed to a chain dangling from the ceiling, multiple bruises and cuts ran across her body. She could barely stand, the only support coming from the chain over her head. She weakly turned her head towards Torchwick. He too was restrained in the same fashion, the only difference being that he hadn't been tortured...yet. For the first time in her life, Blake thought she could see fear in his eyes.

She turned her attention back to their 'host', the one the others called 'Locus'. He was wiping blood off his armoured hands before he picked up a crude looking blade.

"I'm going to ask you one last time and this time, you will answer me!" he said, turning to face Blake. His voice certainly matched both his appearance and personality. He reminded Blake of one of the higher ranker members of the White Fang who had nearly killed Weiss on the train so many weeks ago.

He placed the tip of the knife against her left arm before grabbing the back of her head. "Who are you?" he asked, more menacingly than before. Blake remained silent, earning a groan from Locus. She felt the blade enter her flesh and get pulled out almost as quickly as it entered. She bit her lips to stop herself from screaming in pain. She knew Locus was going for wounds that would maim or seriously injure rather than kill.

"This is all on you!" Locus said, pointing the knife at her before cleaning the blade. "I gave you the chance to surrender information willingly yet instead you chose the hard path! And even then, after all the pain I've inflicted, you still refuse to answer my question!" Locus then let out a humourless laugh. "I admire that..."

Blake would have said something snide in response, but she was just too tired. She knew her Aura would heal her wounds in time, but something was wrong with it. Ever since she arrived on this planet, her Aura had been acting up. So instead, she chose to remain silent as Locus turned his attention to Torchwick.

"Perhaps you will be more accommodating..." Locus said, walking towards Torchwick whilst he twirled the knife in his hand.

"Look pal, I think we started off on the wrong foot here!" Torchwick pleaded as Locus continued to move towards him.

"You can say that again..." Jackson muttered, earning a few laughs from the two Space Pirates either side of him. Locus shot the pair a look and they silenced themselves almost immediately.

"You see, if you look at it through my perspective, we are the same!" Torchwick continued. Locus stopped in his tracks as the Pirates looked at one another in surprise. Locus seemed to be actually considering the statement, causing Torchwick to smile in slight relief. Then, fast as lightning, Locus grabbed Torchwick by his head and dug the knife into his throat.

"We are nothing alike!" Locus seethed, digging the knife deeper into Torchwick's throat.

"Not in that sense! What I meant was we're both men of business!" Torchwick managed to say, a look of fear in his eyes. Locus dug slightly lighter than before but the knife drew blood regardless.

"Then start talking!" Locus demanded.

"I can clearly see that your little operation here isn't entirely legal!" Torchwick said, catching Locus off guard slightly.

"What do you mean?" Locus demanded, releasing Torchwick from his grip as he lowered the knife.

"Your armour and weaponry, while military grade, is clearly lacking on form of sigil usually associated with military uniform. Not to mention how few of you there are!" Torchwick said, clearly having some form of control now. Blake judged from the reactions of the Space Pirates that his assumption was correct. "I can offer you men and women who will gladly fight for you!"

"Your men are savages!" Locus countered, his grip on the knife tightening.

"True, but it would be pretty foolish of you to turn down an offer of help now, wouldn't it?" Torchwick replied. The Pirates exchanged glances before Locus turned his attention back to Torchwick.

"And what can you, specifically, offer?" Locus asked.

"Information, for a price of course." Torchwick smugly replied.

"What sort of information?" Locus asked yet again.

"Who we are, how we got here and most importantly, information on her and her friends!" Torchwick replied, pointing at Blake.

"What are you talking about?" Locus demanded.

"We weren't the only ones that got caught up in our 'situation'." Torchwick said. "And I can guarantee you that her friends were not only caught in the blast that sent us here, but are searching for her as we speak!"

 **00000000**

Ruby still sat, tending to Yangs hand whilst Weiss continued to search for a way out.

"It's hopeless Weiss, there isn't a way out of here." Yang said, wincing slightly as Ruby dabbed her knuckle slightly.

"Not through brute strength maybe, but brain is better than brawn!" Weiss said as she continued to search the room. Eventually, her eyes caught a small control panel that clearly hadn't been used for some time.

"What is it?" Ruby asked, turning to face Weiss.

"A control panel of some form! If I can access it..." Weiss started, before clicking on multiple buttons.

"What are you doing?" Yang questioned, getting up to watch Weiss.

"If I can access the wire feed for the blast door I might be able to-"

The panel suddenly lit up a bright red whilst the words 'ACCESS DENIED' flashed on the screen.

"What the...that shouldn't have happened!" Weiss said, clearly surprised. "Some thing's blocking me!"

Yang in frustration punched the panel, destroying it completely. Weiss stared at her in anger. She couldn't believe her partner just did.

" _Hey watch it! This stuffs expensive you know!"_ a computerised male voice shouted. Everyone froze immediately.

"What was that?" Ruby asked, looking around for any sign of a fourth person.

" _Behind you!"_ the voice said again. The huntresses turned to see nothing greeting them.

" _No, over here dumbass!"_ the voice said yet again.

The huntresses turned and stood in shock. In front of them was a small human stood next to the computer. The figure was wearing the same armour as Grif, Simmons and pretty much everyone they've spoken too so far save for that it was a light blue. He held a sniper rifle in his hand and stared at them expectantly. Yet despite the fact they could see him, it looked as though as he was made out of a sequence of numbers constantly repeating itself.

" _Well, are you gonna say something?"_ The figure asked, looking expectedly at the huntresses.

"W-who are you?" Ruby managed to say, causing the figure to turn to her.

" _The names Epsilon, but people call me Church."_ he said. Whilst Yang and Ruby managed to contain a laugh, Weiss looked on in wonder at the small figure.

"Wait, are you...an A.I?" Weiss managed to say. There were A.I back home that managed the day to day systems but she hadn't seen one ever take on a physical form.

" _No, I'm a ghost...of course I'm a fucking A.I!"_ Church said, causing Weiss to scowl slightly.

"Can you get us out of here?" Ruby asked, causing Church to face her again.

" _Of course,"_ Church replied _"But I won't."_

"What? Why?" Yang asked exasperatedly.

" _Oh come on Yang,"_ Church started, causing Yang to blink in surprise that the A.I knew her name. _"Who do you think was the one who locked the building down?"_

 **00000000**

Locus cleaned what little blood was left on his armour before turning to face Blake and Torchwick. Whilst Torchwick had been taken down by one of the Space Pirates, Blake still hung from the ceiling. Her Aura had healed some of her wounds, allowing her to regain some strength to stand unaided, but she was still weak.

"Take Torchwick back to his cell." Locus said, turning to Jackson. "I'll have to run this through control before we make a decision."

Jackson nodded before glancing towards Blake. "What about the girl?"

Locus turned to face Blake before he turned to face Jackson again.

"Kill her."

 **00000000**

 **Oh shit, it's on now! Hope you enjoyed this chapter, not as long as the others and don't you worry people! The Shotgun Gauntlets are coming very soon… Any way, as always leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome. I'll try and post the next chapter next week but as I said earlier, with Blizzcon on, I may not be able to post it. Have any questions, don't forget to PM me or leave it in the review.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	6. Trust Issues

**Well, wasn't sure I would get this out on time! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you all enjoy this one as well. Only one was asked this time and that was from 'guest2'. If I read it correctly, then you asked me if it was RWBY characters in the RvB universe. The answer is yes. The reason for this was because a lot of the RvB/RWBY crossovers out there have either RvB characters in the RWBY universe or the two moulded together with the RWBY universe being the more dominant. I felt like I wanted to do something different and this was the most logical choice. Now, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 6- Trust Issues**

"Wait, what are you saying?" Yang demanded. She wanted to make sure that she heard 'Epsilon' or 'Church' or whatever the hell he's called right.

" _Really? Do I have to spell it out?"_ Epsilon deadpanned. Yang quickly balled her fists and let out a low growl.

"Are you saying that YOU locked down this area?" Weiss quickly said before the situation deteriorated any further.

" _Congratulations Weiss! You win first prize! Of course I did you fucking idiots!"_ Church replied in a sarcastic manner. In fury at the attitude, Yang swung a right hook at Church, her fist passing straight through his holographic form.

" _Wow...what don't you get about a holographic avatar?"_ Church asked, followed quickly by Yang delivering a left hook at Church. _"Still not getting the whole 'avatar' thing are you?"_

"Just stop! Both of you!" Ruby shouted. Weiss, Yang and Church all turned to face Ruby. "Why did you do it?" she asked, visibly shaking as she awaited a response from the A.I.

" _Well, you were looking through classified files which is pretty suspicious if you ask me."_ Church stated, the cockiness from his voice now replaced with a serious tone. _"Hell, I should be the one who's pissed! I vouched for you guys and this is how you repay me?"_

"What are you talking about? We've never met before!" Weiss retorted. As far as she was aware, this was their first encounter with the A.I.

Ruby racked her brain, trying to figure out what the A.I was talking about. Then it hit her.

"Weiss, remember what Carolina said, about her partners agreeing with us? He was the other partner!"

Weiss' eyes widened as she remembered the conversation. Ruby was right, the A.I must have been present the whole time and just chose to remain invisible through-out the interrogation.

"Wait a second, that doesn't explain why you were watching us!" Yang quickly butted in, causing Church to look at her.

" _Carolina told you that you'd be under close surveillance. I'M that surveillance."_ Church replied quickly. _"And judging from what I just saw, she was right to do so."_

"Look!" Weiss interjected, raising her hands slightly. "All we wanted to do was-"

" _Find out what happened to your friend...I know."_ Church interrupted, actually sounding sympathetic for the first time. _"Which is why no one else is aware of this deadlock..."_

Ruby looked at Church questioningly. "Wait, what?"

" _As far as anyone else is aware, this conversation isn't even occurring..."_ Church replied, causing the huntresses to look at one another in surprise.

"Wait, this isn't a dream is it? Because that would be REALLY lame!" Yang asked, putting a large amount of emphasis on the word 'lame'.

" _What? No, that's just stupid! Why would you think that?"_ Church asked exasperatedly. _"What I mean is, that we are the only people who know that I activated the deadlock!"_

"But...the guards outside and in the building in general..." Weiss stated, knowing that a building this important would be manned to the brim, even on a night shift.

" _Oh please,"_ Church reassured. _"The walls here are so thick you can't even here if you drop a bomb right outside!"_

The huntresses looked at one another and shrugged, deciding to take Church's word on the matter.

" _Look, all I'm saying is that I understand what it's like to lose someone...especially if they're close to you."_ Church said. The huntresses could tell that there was a hidden sadness behind those words, who had he lost in the past? _"But you have to treat these privileges you've received with care!"_

"What do you mean?" Yang questioned. She had gotten over her rage for the most part and was more interested in what Church had to say.

" _You think it's hard for you to trust us, then just imagine how hard it was for us to trust you!"_ Church replied angrily. _"And if you go around sneaking into files and places you shouldn't be, you're going to lose that trust!"_

The huntresses looked at one another sheepishly and realised that Church was right. These people, who barely knew them, had given them the benefit of the doubt and decided to take them in despite the circumstances and they had done what? Betrayed that trust and effectively stabbed them in the back.

"We...we understand. And we're sorry." Ruby finally said. She looked towards her friends and could tell by their expressions that she was speaking for all of them. They were suddenly alerted by the sound of grinding metal and turned to see the blast door beginning to rise. They stared in utter shock at first the open door and then Church.

" _Well don't just stand there with your thumb in your ass and your mind in neutral! Go on, you can leave!"_ Church snapped, startling the huntresses with the sudden break of silence. The huntresses turned to leave, but stopped at the door, turning to face Church again.

"Thank you, we really appreciate what your doing for us." Ruby said, a grateful smile on her face.

" _Yeah yeah, whatever..."_ Church half heartedly replied, disappearing in a sudden flash of white light. The huntresses stared at the empty space where the A.I once stood, contemplating what had just occurred.

"Hey Weiss." Yang said, breaking the silence.

"Yes?" Weiss asked, turning to face the blonde brawler.

"You two are kinda alike!" Yang snickered, a slight grin on her face. Weiss sighed, placing the palm of her hand on her temple as Ruby and Yang laughed to themselves.

"Dear god I hate you all..."

 **00000000**

Blake wish she hadn't heard what Locus just said. She looked in horror as Locus left the room, leaving her with Torchwick, Jackson and the two other Pirates. Jackson shoved Torchwick forward, who had a slight grin on his face, before turning to his subordinates.

"You two, take her out back and be quick about it!" he said, tossing a key to one of the Pirates who caught it with ease.

"You got it boss..." the Pirate menacingly replied.

Jackson turned and left the room, leaving Blake alone with the two Pirates. One walked forward, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him in his tracks.

"You go on ahead, I'll do this myself." the other Pirate said, reaching for a sword on the nearby table.

"You sure?" the Pirate asked, receiving a nod in return. "All right, I'll be outside if you need me." The Pirate turned and left the door, leaving only her and the lone Pirate in the room. Blake could only just make out the silhouette of the weapon he carried, and it made her all the more horrified.

"You know, I've always wanted to kill someone with their own weapon!" the Pirate menacingly stated, twirling Gambol Shroud in his hand before the weapon shifted into its pistol form. "Now I'm gonna see if it's as good as they say it is."

The Pirate levelled the pistol at Blake's head, switching the safety off as he did so. "Any last words before I blast your brains out?" he asked, cocking his head slightly. Blake merely met him with stony silence, earning a dry chuckle from him. "All right then..."

As the Pirate applied pressure to the trigger, Blake quickly kicked Gambol Shroud to her left, the bullet instead hitting the wall. She then brought her leg back, swiping the Pirate across the head and causing him to spin around slightly. Before he could recover Blake kicked him square in the back, causing him to grunt and hit the table, sending him staggering back towards Blake again.

As he approached her, Blake wrapped her legs around the Pirates neck, tightening her grip slightly. The Pirate dropped Gambol Shroud, gasping for air as he clawed at her legs, attempting to gain a grip on her. Blake applied more pressure. She wouldn't kill him, that life was behind her, but if she applied pressure onto the right points it would send him to sleep. The Pirates movements became more sluggish, just a bit longer and-

 _CRACK!_

Blake froze almost immediately at the all too familiar wet sound of bone's snapping. She looked down in horror and saw that the Pirate had gone limp, his head twisted slightly to the left. She released her grip and the Pirate slumped to the floor, dead. She bit her lips to stop herself from gasping in horror. She had sworn never to kill another human again. This man was simply following orders and she didn't even know who he was! For all she knew, he had a loving family back home, waiting for him to return. A sudden knock on the door brought her back to reality.

"Hey Marlowe, you okay in there?"

Blake immediately composed herself as the knocking continued. The world was probably better off without this man living on it. Right now the most important thing was to get out and find her friends.

Gambol Shroud was still on the floor in pistol form. Perhaps if she could get a hold of it, she could use it to escape. The knocking became more persistent and louder.

"Come on man hurry up!"

She had to be quick or she would miss her window. She managed to hook her foot on the weapons ribbon, ensuring it was properly secured. She only had one shot at this and if she screwed up, game over. She kicked Gambol Shroud into the air, barely managing to catch the weapon. She let out a sigh of relief before the weapon morphed into its katana form, severing the chain attached to the ceiling. She quickly checked the Pirates corpse, grabbing the key off his belt and undid the cuffs, rubbing her wrists as she was finally relinquished from her bonds. The knocking soon turned into banging as the Pirate on the other side became more frustrated.

"That's it, I'm coming in!"

The Pirate unlocked the door, freezing in his tracks upon seeing Blake standing their whilst the other Pirate laid slumped on the floor.

"What the-"

Blake quickly barrelled past the Pirate, knocking him onto his back with a loud grunt. She continued to run, not daring to look back.

"Sound the alarm! One of the prisoners have escaped!" the Pirate shouted from behind.

Blake kept running, sticking to both cover and the shadows as she ran. The darkness of the night gave her some cover, but it was almost dawn. The Pirates were on full alert now, but thankfully didn't know where she was. As she moved forward, she could see that one of the gates was still open. No doubt a patrol had left earlier that night and they were waiting for their return. This was her only exit, she had to take it. She broke cover and made a bee line for the gate.

"There she is!"

"Open fire!"

"She's heading for the gate! Stop her!"

Orange plasma bolts flew around her as the Pirates focused all their attention on her. A Pirate blocked her path and let out a few controlled bursts from his weapon. She quickly used her semblance, thankful it still worked, leaving behind a shadow clone as she rolled forward. The sudden appearance of the copy startled the Pirate, causing him to lower his weapon.

"Huh?"

She quickly shoulder barged him, causing him to grunt in pain, before she bashed him on the head with the flat of her blade, knocking him out. She quickly heard the sound of metal grinding and turned to see the gate closing.

She quickly ran forward, dodging bullets with both her natural grace and her semblance. She then slid under the gate, just as it was about to close, feeling the air blowing out as the gate closed.

"Quickly, shoot her!"

Blake looked up as a pair of Pirates on top of the gate began to fire their weapons at her from above. Blake wasted no time and sprinted for the forest, the plasma bolts trailing close behind her. As she ran she let out a shadow clone to help distract the Pirates, but upon using it, she gasped in pain and collapsed, the clone dispersing immediately afterwards.

'Damn it, not now!' Blake cursed to herself. Her Aura levels must be dangerously low if she couldn't even maintain the clone for a few seconds. There was something wrong with this planet for sure if her Aura wasn't regenerating at its usual rate. Perhaps it was the gravity of this place or some other cosmic phenomenon.

"Damn it, I lost her!" she heard a voice shout.

"Oh man, Locus is going to kill us!" a second complained. The voices sounded distant, at least she had lost them.

"Come on, we need to report this now!" the first said, the voice sounding more distant than it had before.

"Right!" the second replied, trailing off into the distant.

Blake struggled to her feet and trudged forward. In the distance she could see the outline of a city and hopefully, a refuge…

 **00000000**

Locus marched forward, heading towards the communication room. A pair of Pirates guarded the entrance, saluting as he approached and entered the building. The small room was lit by a single red light whilst a large computer screen hung from the wall. Locus activated the console, the screen lighting up upon contact. After a few short commands Locus came upon the contact he required; Control.

After ensuring that the network used was secure he initiated contact. Almost immediately, Chairman Malcolm Hargrove's face appeared on the screen, a neutral look on his face.

"Locus, I wasn't expecting you to call! This had better be important, I'm rather...preoccupied at this moment in time." The Chairman said, his eyes narrowing as he spoke.

"Sir, we've come across an anomaly. A new group has appeared on Chorus, one we've never seen before!" Locus reported, earning a raised eyebrow from the Chairman.

"How many of these individuals are there?"

"At least twenty, but apparently there are more that may become a threat in the future." Locus continued, the Chairman now scratching his chin in deep thought. "One of these groups has offered their help in our cause, as well as to take care of the other group."

The silence was almost deafening, the Chairman taking in every word that Locus said.

"And why have you called me then?" the Chairman finally asked.

"To know what your opinion on the matter is, sir!" Locus replied. The Chairman simply placed his hands behind his back and gave Locus his response.

"Do what is necessary to win this war!" the Chairman replied, before terminating the connection.

Locus stared at the screen, the Chairman's face replaced by static. He then reached for the comm on his helmet and relayed his decision.

"Jackson, come in! Over."

"This is Jackson, what's the matter sir?" Jackson replied over the comms.

"Release the Torchwick and his men. For now, they work for us."

"Roger that Locus, over and out."

Locus turned to leave the communication room when suddenly, a blaring siren wailed through out the complex.

"What the..." Locus muttered to himself as he searched the comm channels on his helmet.

"Locus, this is security! The girl, she's gone! She killed Marlowe and did a runner!" a voice sounded on the other end of the comms.

"What!?" Locus exclaimed, shock and anger in his voice. "Where is she?"

"We don't know, she's heading West to New Lincoln!" the voice replied.

Locus hesitated for a second. New Lincoln was a wasteland, one of the first cities to feel the full brunt of the Civil War. As far as he was aware, the city was unoccupied…

"Hold position for now, Felix is still out in the field. He can sort this out..." Locus finally replied, the comm channel going silent as the subordinate left to relay orders.

Locus then switched to one of the more private channels, giving him direct access to Felix. "Felix, come in! Are you finished yet?"

Felix reply was almost instant. "Almost..." Locus then heard the sound of metal grinding against flesh followed quickly by a quiet gurgling. "We're finished here now Locus, what do you want?"

"The girl, she's escaped!" Locus answered, a soft chuckle on the other end of the comm channel.

"Seriously? I leave you in charge for less then half a day and you manage to fuck it up?" Felix smugly asked before sighing. "Where is she headed?"

"New Lincoln. You and your team are the closest group to her immediate destination, find her and neutralise her!" Locus quickly replied, earning yet another chuckle from Felix.

"When you say 'neutralise', you mean-"

"Kill...yes!" Locus interrupted. Every second Felix wasted was a second the girl had to escape.

"All right, I'll head out now. I better get paid extra for this crap!" Felix quickly responded, the comm channel quickly turning to static as Locus left the channel. Now his immediate attention was set on their new allies...and what information they had to offer.

 **00000000**

"Just so you're all aware, I think this idea is terrible." Grif casually stated. He had been standing for nearly an hour now 'helping' Simmons clean up the workshop after Sarge had nearly destroyed it in his quest for 'Shotgun Gauntlets'.

"You think ALL our ideas are terrible!" Simmons countered, sweeping away the tiny fragments of metal that had been created when Sarge had used a 9 inch grinder to cut the barrels of multiple Shotguns off.

"That's usually because they all ARE terrible ideas!" Grif retorted. During his time in Blood Gulch and just the Red Army in general, he'd taken part in a lot of terrible ideas, but this one took the biscuit.

"You're only saying that because he's gonna test them on you first!" Simmons replied. When it came to testing new weapons, the pecking order usually went: Grif, Grif, Grif, Grif again and last but not least...Grif.

"Yeah well, I think the prospect of dying is a very valid reason why I think this idea is terrible!" Grif casually replied. He was well aware of the pecking order for weapon testing and he still believed there should be more variety.

"Relax, it probably won't work anyway..." Simmons replied, discarding the last of the scrap in the Scrap Bin.

"Oh yeah? Then why does it look like Donut and Lopez are wondering what flowers will look good in a funeral arrangement!" Grif angrily replied, pointing towards Donut and Lopez who were both staring intently at Grif.

" **No importaría lo de la flor que elegimos. Tú haces que las flores se marchiten en la vida debido a su olor, que se desintegrarían al ser llevado a un metro de su cadáver en descomposición!** **(It wouldn't matter what flower's we picked. You cause flowers to wilt in life due to your stench, they would disintegrate upon being brought within a metre of your decaying corpse!)"** Lopez stated matter of factly.

"You're right Lopez, tulips WOULD look good in Grif's open casket!" Donut cheerily replied, causing Lopez to face-palm slightly.

Simmons sighed before turning towards Grif and placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Look, when have any of Sarge's inventions ever worked?"

Grif stood silently as he contemplated Simmons words. "Now that you mention it...it does sound kinda stupid." Grif finally said. "Hey your right! I take it back, this idea doesn't seem that bad..."

"Feast your eyes upon these beauties!" Sarge's booming voice echoed throughout the room.

Everyone turned towards Sarge and stood frozen in shock. There Sarge was, Shotgun strapped to his back, but their attention was turned to his wrists and the weapons mounted on them. The weapons were insanely large, they weren't even sure if Sarge could lift them without assistance. His hands were gripping a metal bar to both allow easy access to the weapons and allow them to be removed easily. On each side of the gauntlets were Shotguns, bolted and welded on with an automated reloading system attached as well as an automatic pump action system.

"Ladies and Gentlemen...and Grif...allow me to introduce to you 'The Sargeinator 5000'!" Sarge bellowed, lifting said weapons up to allow all to get a better look at the weapon.

"Wait, why 'Sargeinator 5000'?" Simmons asked, recovering from his earlier shock.

"Because 'Haymaker', 'Terminator' and 'Grif-Squasher' were all taken via copyright infringement." Sarge quickly replied.

"Huh..." Simmons muttered, turning to face Grif.

Grif stood frozen in fear, dropping the Suppressor rifle in complete shock.

"I take back my take back, this a FUCKING TERRIBLE IDEA!" Grif shouted, unable to move.

"Don't be such a baby, now, I'm gonna need to test these bad boys out on someone, any volunteers?" Sarge quickly asked.

Almost immediately, Simmons, Donut and Lopez pointed at Grif, still frozen in fear.

"Good to see you so eager to help me out Grif!" Sarge cheerily replied, causing Grif to whimper in fear. "Now I want to ask you what hurts more, 'A' or 'B'."

"W-wait...what's 'A' and 'B'?" Grif managed to stutter out, his body shaking in complete fear.

"'A' is your chest and 'B' is your groin." Sarge replied, only adding to Grif's fears.

"Now hold still, this will only last a few seconds..." Sarge menacingly said. All eyes turned to the two. Simmons didn't know if he could watch as he was concerned for his friend yet also wanted to see the weapon in action. Donut stood cowering behind a chair, not wanting to get all that blood red on his light red armour. Lopez just gave a neutral stare towards the eventual bloodbath, knowing full well he'd have to clean it up.

"GYAHHHHHHHHH!" Sarge bellowed raising the Sargeinator 5000, pointing the gauntlets at Grif's chest.

"WAHHHHH!" Grif screamed, raising his arms in defence and turning around to look the other way...yet the blasts never came. "Huh?" Grif muttered, as Sarge stood there, thrusting his arms forward.

"Come on you piece of...why won't it work?" Sarge grumbled as he began to shake the weapons around.

"Ummm, Sir, did you reinstall the firing mechanism?" Simmons asked as he slowly stepped forward.

"Of course not! That's redicu-Oh..." Sarge muttered, realisation dawning on him. Grif let out a sigh of relief and laughed.

"Now that was close, I thought I was a-" Grif never finished his sentence as Sarge punched Grif square on in the head, sending him flying towards the floor with a loud thud.

"OH the front of your head!" Simmons shouted, rushing towards Grif and checking his pulse.

"Is he dead?" Sarge asked, standing over Grif's body.

"No, just unconscious..." Simmons sighed, turning to face Sarge. "Sir, despite not having the outcome you wanted, those weapons are actually really effective Close Quarter Combat weapons!"

Sarge sighed as he shook his head. "I know, but it just ain't the same without the Shotgun blasts..." Sarge replied, sliding the weapons off his hands and gently placing them on the floor.

"Regardless, you've revolutionised modern warfare!" Simmons continued, not bothering to look at Sarge. "If we can mass produce these, the Pirates will have no choice but to-" Simmons was immediately cut off by the sound of two shotgun blasts. He turned to see Sarge standing with his original Shotgun drawn before a pile of smoking scrap formally known as 'The Sargeinator 5000'.

"That's that embarrassment forgotten..." Sarge chuckled, reloading a shell into the rifle. "Sorry Simmons, you were saying something?" Sarge continued, turning towards Simmons who was staring in horror at the broken weaponry.

"Nope!" Simmons managed to say, barely containing his anger.

"What the hell is going on in here!"

Red team turned to see Agent Washington enter the workshop, raising his arms in demand for an explanation. Sarge and Simmons turned to one another before turning to face the ex-freelancer.

"Nothing." Sarge replied, doing his best attempt to act subtle. Washington turned to face Grif's unconscious body lying on the floor.

"Why is he lying on the floor?" Wash asked, pointing at the heap of fat known as Grif.

"What do you think? It's Grif, he's sleeping." Simmons replied. Wash turned to Grif and then Simmons, unsure of whether he was telling the truth.

"Well, wake him up! You're all required in the War Room." Wash ordered, turning to leave the room.

"For what purpose?" Sarge asked, causing Wash to stop in his tracks and turn to face Sarge.

"We think we know where Blake is heading." Wash replied. Sarge, Simmons, Lopez and Donut all looked at one another before Simmons asked the question they were all thinking.

"Who's Blake?"

 **00000000**

 **Well, that's that chapter done and dusted. I wasn't sure about the whole Semblance and Aura thing as I couldn't find anything on whether the use of Semblance used up Aura. Feel free to confirm if this is true in a review. Also for those wondering what 'The Sargeinator 5000' looks like, just think of a more primitive version of the Hand Cannons used by Marauders in Starcraft 2. As always, leave your review and constructive criticism is always welcome. If you have any questions, either PM me or leave them in the review.**

 **Raging Archon out!**


	7. Dust and Ashes

**Hello everyone, and welcome back to another chapter of the Chorus Chronicle. Before we begin, just going to answer a few questions from reviewer's. First up from Thaqif, Will there be any PSA's (Public Service Announcement) in the story? Honestly, I played around with the idea when I was writing up the general storyline for this fic but I decided against the idea in the end as firstly, I felt as though it might take away from the story too much and secondly, I wouldn't even know what to put as a script for it. And lastly, two questions from Ryuuben. First up, will other RWBY characters appear in the story? No, I want the story to focus more on team RWBY's adventure's on Chorus and in my opinion at least, they have the most character out of the RWBY characters. And secondly, will we see a death battle between Ruby and Grif over cookies? I have no plans but, you never know, could change my mind. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 7: Dust and Ashes**

Ruby, Weiss and Yang stood in the small space they had taken refuge in after the fiasco at the security centre. Multiple crates surrounded the area, acting as a makeshift fort of sorts with three metre tall walls on all sides with a small hole a metre wide acting as the door. Ruby sat, huddled in one of the corners as she came to grips with the fact that they may never see Blake again, small tears streaming down her face. Weiss strode back and forth in their makeshift sanctuary like a lion in a small cage, never content with where she was standing. Yang leaned up against one of the walls, tending to her hand whilst also looking affectionately towards Ruby. First her mother died on a hunt, and now someone who was pretty much like a second sister to her could be dead. Yang then turned her attention back to Weiss and rolled her eyes as the Heiress continued to wander around.

"Just stand still already Weiss, you're making me feel dizzy." Yang said, shaking her head as she spoke.

"I don't understand, how is this even possible?" Weiss muttered to herself, completely ignoring Yang and continuing to walk in circles.

Yang let out a sigh as the heiress was still apparently stuck in her own little world. Realising that she would get nowhere with Weiss she turned to Ruby, who was still huddled but had stopped crying, her eyes raw from the tears.

"How you feeling Rubes?" Yang asked quietly. Despite the closed walls the 'fort' had, they were still in the city surrounded by soldiers, and this was something she wanted kept quiet. Ruby sniffed and wiped her eyes to remove any excess tears before turning to face Yang.

"Better, thank you..." Ruby managed to say, her lips curling slightly as she managed a smile. Yang also smiled, proud that her sister was getting stronger emotionally. When her mother, Summer, died on a hunt gone wrong, she had been crying for over a week. That doubled with the bad attitude had made life very hard early on. Yang was proud that her sister had grown so much over the past few years.

"Whilst I do agree that this is a tragedy and all, but I think we have bigger problems that require our immediate attention!" Weiss butted in, having finally ceased her wandering. Yang growled slightly as she turned to face the heiress, the anger she was feeling clearly displayed on her face.

"Like what?" Yang seethed, raising an eyebrow towards the heiress who met her hateful stare with a neutral gaze.

"Like your aura and semblance." Weiss replied. Yang simply froze, she had got her on that part.

"What about it?" Ruby asked. In all fairness, she too was worried about her sisters aura and semblance. Yang could destroy an Atlesian Paladin-290 faster than most military artillery could, yet a simple blast door did more damage to her than the actual door. Not to mention her struggle with the crates earlier.

"I think that something may be wrong with our Aura, and therefore, our semblance." Weiss stated, a grim look on her face. A look that was shared amongst her team mates. "And I think I can prove it as well." Weiss continued, turning to face Ruby. "How many laps do you think you would be able to do of this area?"

"Maybe about..." Ruby began, attempting to count how many she would be able to do before looking at Weiss with a sheepish grin on her face. "A lot?" Ruby asked, unsure of the answer herself. Weiss gestured for her to demonstrate, which Ruby readily complied with.

She ran at full speed in a small circle, her semblance leaving behind her trademark rose petals as she barrelled faster and faster. However, after a few laps, her speed slowed up to the point that her blurred shape simply started to take a form. Her movements becoming more sloppy up to the point that she simply just stood still, gasping for air as she fell forward in a manner that would have been comical had the situation not been dire.

"I swear...that...usually...never happens..." Ruby managed to say between her huge intakes of air. Yang helped her sister up who merely slumped against her for support.

"See? And I can guarantee that if I overused my Semblance, the same would happen to me." Weiss stated. Yang turned to face Weiss again, one thing that was gnawing at the back of her mind.

"I have a question, why is this happening?" Yang asked, Ruby nodded in agreement, unable to actual speak due to how tired she was.

"I honestly don't know." Weiss stated, a sad look on her face. "It could be anything from the gravitational pull of this planet to some cosmic event that cannot be explained."

" _I have a question, what the fuck are you guys talking about?"_ a familiar robotic voice asked.

Weiss, Ruby and Yang turned to find Church standing, or more floating, at the entrance of the 'fort', cocking his head slightly.

"How much did you hear?" Weiss asked, a hint of embarrassment in her voice.

" _Enough for me to ask the question."_ Church replied, turning to face Weiss as he spoke.

"You know, if your 'spying' on us, the spy is meant to remain hidden at all times." Yang stated matter of factly, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

" _I'm not here to watch you actually!"_ Church replied, causing Yang to blink in shock. _"I'm here to deliver some news."_

"What news?" Ruby asked, standing up slowly as Church spoke.

" _We think we found Blake!"_ Church smugly replied. The reaction to that sentence was instant.

"Really?!" Ruby shouted, rushing up to Church with a burst of speed. "Where?!"

" _I'll explain more in the War Room, we'll see you there!"_ Church replied, before disappearing in a flash of blue light.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god! We're gonna find Blake!" Ruby shouted, barely able to contain her joy.

"I have to agree, it's good to finally hear some good news for once." Weiss concurred, nodding her head as she spoke.

"I have just one question," Yang said, Weiss and Ruby turning to face Yang. "Where the hell is the War Room?"

 **00000000**

 **Hours later**

Ruby, Weiss and Yang panted as they entered the War Room. It had taken them ages to find this place, and were disheartened when they finally saw the room with their own eyes. The room had four metallic walls with multiple computer monitors on them, the largest one facing them directly with what appeared to be a geographical map of Chorus displayed on the screen. A large florescent light hung from the ceiling giving the room an eerie blue glow. All in all, it was pretty underwhelming. But the biggest disappointment was the one standing in front of them.

"Hello!" Caboose said, as the other Reds and Blues turned to acknowledge their arrival.

"Seriously?" Weiss asked, turning to her team mates to see the same disappointing look on their faces.

"What happened to your face?" Yang asked, pointing towards Grif who had a large crack on his visor.

"Yes Grif, tell us what happened!" Sarge threateningly said, pounding his fist into the palm of his hand.

"Errr… I slipped and fell?" Grif whimpered somewhat questioningly.

"Thought so..." Sarge replied, his body easing slightly as Grif continued to whimper.

"All right boys, that's enough!" the somewhat familiar voice of Agent Carolina shouted, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Carolina stood in one of the side doors, Church's small holographic form standing beside her as she was joined by Washington.

"Thank you for coming," Wash said as he walked into the centre of the room, joined quickly by Carolina. "Now, I'm sure there are a lot of questions-"

"Where's Kimball and Doyle?" Simmons asked almost immediately.

"Kimball is taking part in an assault on one of Charon's outposts while Doyle is inspecting the troops in one of our barracks." Carolina immediately replied. A wave of questions flooded the huntresses minds. Who's Kimball? Who's Doyle? Who or what is Charon?

"Well, I was going to ask if you could refrain your questions until the end but I'm just going to go straight to the point." Wash said before he turned towards the huntresses. "We think we found Blake."

"Will someone please tell me who the fuck is Blake!" Grif shouted, causing everyone to turn towards him.

"She's our friend, but I thought you didn't know where she was!" Ruby both explained and asked, turning to Wash for an answer.

"We didn't at first." Wash admitted before he turned to Church. "Epsilon, you take it from here."

" _Right!"_ Church said, before he disappeared and then reappeared in front of the large monitor on the wall. _"As you all ready know, you three appeared to us in a flash of light almost a day ago."_ Church explained as a short simulation played showing a flash of light appearing on the western border of the city.

"Booo! This movie sucks!" Grif shouted, earning a groan from the A.I.

" _But what you may not know is that before that, a second flash of light appeared just before that."_ Church continued, another simulation playing of the flash of light appearing in a mountainous terrain followed by the one near the western border of Armonia.

"This is worse then a Michael Bay movie!" Tucker shouted.

"The CGI in this flick is worse then the Hobbit movies!" Simmons stated in a moody fashion.

"Which one, the original or the reboot?" Sarge asked, turning to face Simmons.

"All of them!" Simmons replied.

"I want more popcorn!" Caboose shouted immediately after.

" _Shut up! This isn't a fucking movie! It's a simulation!"_ Church shouted in fury, the huntresses noticing his form changed from blue to black for a mili-second. Church sighed inwardly as he composed himself, _"As I was saying,"_ Church seethed before gaining control of his temper. _"There were two flashes of light, one containing you three and the other containing what we believe to be your friend."_

"We sent a scouting force out, but we lost contact when they entered the woodland." Wash continued, stepping into the centre of the room. "However, a few hours ago, one of our drones picked up this image."

The screen changed from the geographical map to an image overlooking the woodland. As the image became clearer, the huntresses noticed a familiar form running through forest.

"That's Blake!" Ruby shouted, unrelenting joy echoing in her words.

"Judging from her current direction, she's heading for the city of New Lincoln." Wash replied, the image changing to an image of a ruined city. "The city is large, but also abandoned. Whether she knows it or not is unclear, but it's a good place to start.."

"Unfortunately, we don't have the authority to authorise a military movement into the city." Carolina said, causing the huntresses to stop their small celebration and stare at the Freelancer with disappointment. "However, you're not military and therefore have no authority over you." Carolina stated, causing the huntresses to smile slightly.

"Meet me in the training room, and I'll go over a little tool you're going to need to get to New Lincoln and back." Wash stated, walking out the War Room, followed by Ruby, Weiss and Yang.

"So, why are we here?" Tucker asked, turning to face Church and Carolina.

"Well, they're gonna need an escort," Church stated, turning to address the gathered Reds and Blues. "So who wants to volunteer?"

Church was met with a deafening silence until finally Grif spoke.

"Dibs not me."

 **00000000**

 **New Lincoln outskirts**

Blake wandered through the ruined city, taking in all the sights and sounds of the area. The city was nothing more but an empty shell of what it once was, ruined buildings barely standing and fires that appeared to be ever fuelled by corpses, creating a horrific stench that made her want to gag. The stench was also attracting local wildlife. A large lizard like beast almost as big as a Beowolf, tore at the carcasses, lifting it's horned head to hiss and roar at Blake before dragging the body into the surrounding trees. Crows flew over head, landing onto bodies and picking at whatever scraps they could. Blake wanted to shoo the birds away to show some form of respect to the dead, but she knew the crows were only following instinct and would return regardless.

She also took notice of the bodies surrounding her. Soldiers wearing different uniforms to the ones that had captured her. Some wore brown armour with splashes of sage designed in a camouflage pattern whilst others wore what was once white armour with sage stripes, the sun having turned it a pale yellow. Both were riddled with bullets and appeared to have been making last stands of some sort, leaning on sand bags and crates. But what horrified her the most were the ones without armour.

Many were women, with a few elders, but she could see the small forms of children amongst them. Many had already been stripped of flesh or had deteriorated rapidly, but some were still in the early stages of decomposition. She knelt before one of the dead, a small child clutching an elephant plush, her eyes wide in shock and fear whilst her once pink top was smudged in red blood, emanating from a single bullet wound roughly the size of a golf-ball. Blake closed her eyes as a single tear left her eye, before she closed the young girls eyes with her hand and continued to wander.

She saw multiple bodies, the civilian body count lowering as she got closer to the city centre. She spotted multiple propaganda posters, some of the white armoured soldiers whilst others of what she assumed were freedom fighter posters. She then came across a simple store with a smashed window, the sign overhead saying ' **H. '**.

Blake peered inside and found the store to be filled to the brim with books. Her curiosity got the better of her and she entered the store. She immediately began to look through the books, but was left disappointed by how badly the books had deteriorated, many crumpling to dust in her hand.

She winced slightly as she massaged her leg, her twisted ankle was healing itself but at a slow rate, as were the other wounds she had received from her 'hosts'. As another book crumpled in her hands, she sighed and placed what was left back on the shelf.

'It seems all that's left of this place is dust and ash.' Blake mused to herself, sighing before she turned to leave the store.

"She's definitely here! Spread out and find her!" a sinister voice shouted. A voice that was horrifyingly familiar to her.

She hugged the wall of the store and peered behind it, making sure to remain hidden. Outside were five soldiers, three men and two women. The women and two of the men were wearing the familiar armour that her captors wore, but the last one, which she assumed was the leader was wearing different armour all together. The armour was sharp and had a heavy theme of angles, particularly on the chest area. A thin black visor allowed him to see whilst multiple compartments on his armour housed what she assumed were throwing knives. Like the other soldiers, his armour was grey yet had an orange trim on certain areas. She had seen this one before, standing next to Locus when she first arrived at their outpost. And now, it appeared he was hunting her.

She couldn't stay for long in this place, they would eventually find her and she dreaded what they would do when they did. She spied a fire exit at the other end of the shop. She quickly moved towards it, making sure to avoid making any loud noises. She quietly opened the door and left the building with great haste. She found herself in a dark decrepit alley way, the shadows on one end taking the form of a person.

"I think I heard something down here." a surprisingly sophisticated male voice whispered.

"Check it out, could be her." a deep, thick accented male voice replied.

Blake quickly ran out the alley and round the corner as the sounds of heavy metallic boots drew closer.

"Nothing, must have been a cat or something." the first voice said.

"Keep looking, she's bound to turn up somewhere." the second voice replied.

Blake continued to move, sticking to the shadows and away from open cover. She had to get out of the city fast, or she'd be joining the departed soon…

 **00000000**

 **Unknown Alien Temple**

The Space Pirates watched on as the White Fang were released from containment. Venomous were shot from both sides as the White Fang retrieved their weaponry, no one trusting the terrorists with the Charon Hybrid weaponry. In the safety of a nearby bunker, Locus and Torchwick watched, the latter having retrieved Melodic Cudgel from the pirates.

"I can guarantee you, that you've made an excellent choice my friend." Torchwick said, a smile on his charismatic face.

"We're nor friends!" Locus replied almost mechanically.

"Nonetheless, how about we forget all that 'interrogation' business and pretend it never happened." Torchwick suggested, holding out his hand in gesture of respect to the mercenary. Locus merely looked at the hand and then at Torchwick.

"If that will make you feel better." Locus replied, turning around and leaving Torchwick behind.

"Really not much of a talker are you?" Torchwick asked, lowering his hand and catching up to Locus. "I respect that!"

"Don't try and brown nose me Torchwick. After all, I'm keeping you on a short leash!" Locus threatened, stopping in front of a door and inserting a code. Torchwick merely gulped as Locus finished inputting the code. The door opened immediately, revealing a large room with multiple weapons stacked on the wall, ranging from Sniper Rifles, Pistols, Shotguns, SAW's and a Railgun. Locus removed the pistol currently attached to his hip and began taking the gun apart on a workshop bench before repairing at a record speed.

"Let's talk business." Locus finally said, turning to face Torchwick and leaning against the work bench. "You said you had information this...Blake and her friends."

Torchwick smiled as leaned against his cane. "What would you like to know about them?"

Locus crossed his arms and leaned forward slightly. "Everything."

 **00000000**

 **The hunt is on for Blake! Sorry if this chapter was a bit short but I guarantee you that the next chapter will feature some fight scenes! As always, have any questions you can just PM me or leave it in the review and in the mean time, post a review and constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	8. Fight or Flight

**New chapter my friends, hope you've all enjoyed your week so far. Now, only one question from Atrum Ferox asking if I really needed to handicap RWBY as it makes them too weak. I feel as though I did need to do that. Look at it this way, the RWBY characters have superior resilience in comparison to the RvB characters. So the threats that the RvB characters face would be smaller to the RWBY characters, thus taking away some of the conflict...in my opinion at least. But by reducing their Aura level, I believe that it makes the threat of the Space Pirates more serious for the RWBY characters, forcing them to rely more on skill then their Aura. That being said, I don't intend to do any Character Bashing. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 8- Fight or Flight**

"Okay, everyone remember the plan?" Ruby asked, loading a fresh magazine into Crescent Rose as the rest of her team prepared themselves.

"Go into the city, find Blake and all go home." Yang quickly replied as she ensured Ember Cilica's shells still inserted into the chamber correctly. Weiss simply nodded her head as she readjusted her grip on Myrtenaster. Ruby smiled and nodded in confirmation as she packed a few extra magazines just in case.

"All right, so you know how these things work then?" a Republican technician asked, holding a small black box with multiple orange highlights. Weiss narrowed her eyes as she studied the small device.

"They're teleporters, right?" Weiss asked as she took the cube from the technicians hand.

"Yeah, the calibrations have been set." the technician replied, taking another one of the small cubes out of a box and handing it to Ruby. "THAT one will take you to New Lincoln," the tech continued whilst pointing to the cube Weiss held. "While THAT one will bring you back here." the tech finished, pointing to the cube Ruby held. "Just press the button on the base and stick close together. Keep your hands and feet inside the perimeter at all times."

"What happens if we don't?" Yang asked with a smirk. When she was younger and was told to keep her hands and feet inside safe zones at amusement parks, she had constantly ignored the rules. What was the worst that could happen.

"Then you'll probably lose an arm or leg." the tech replied, wiping the smirk off of Yang's face. Judging from the seriousness in his voice, she was sure the guy had seen it happen before.

"Okay, everyone ready?" a new voice asked.

Ruby, Weiss and Yang turned to see both Carolina and Wash enter the room, with Church floating nearby. Ruby nodded in confirmation, followed by Weiss and Yang.

"Before you all go, there is probably something we should tell you..." Wash said and Ruby was sure she could hear some embarrassment in his voice.

"We can't allow you to go to New Lincoln alone. The city is in its death throes and would be impossible to navigate without a guide of some sorts." Carolina added, causing the huntresses to look at one another in slight confusion.

"But I thought you said you didn't have the authority to send military personnel out of the city!" Weiss stated, clearly remembering the exact conversation from earlier.

"We can't, but these people aren't official members of Chorus' Military..." Wash replied, lowering his head in apparent shame.

"Hello!" an all to familiar voice announced, causing Weiss to stiffen slightly.

The huntresses slowly turned and saw the all to familiar forms of Caboose, Sarge and Tucker standing side by side whilst the rest of the Blood Gulch crew watched from a distance.

"Seriously?" Yang asked, turning to face Wash who simply looked away in shame.

" _They were the only ones who would willingly volunteer so...yeah."_ Church quickly replied, causing the huntresses to look back at their 'partners'.

"Don't worry! We're right behind you! We'll be thinking of you from the safety of these very high walls!" Grif shouted, giving a somewhat reassuring thumbs up.

"Really?" Simmons asked confused.

"Nah, I'm just gonna eat some chips or something." Grif replied, sending another thumbs up towards the huntresses.

The huntresses just narrowed their eyes and turned to face their 'escort'. Tucker was seemingly giving Yang the 'eyes' but it was impossible to tell due to his helmet, Sarge looked as though he was aiming his Shotgun at Caboose, whilst the blue idiot was staring at...something.

"We're dead..." Yang deadpanned as the two groups moved closer to one another, forming a small cluster.

" _Before you go, there's something else you should know."_ Church quickly said, causing the group to turn to face the A.I. _"Our drones also picked up another group inside New Lincoln, from what we can tell it's Felix and his goons."_

The huntresses noticed the sudden mood change amongst the Blood Gulch crew as they suddenly stiffened at the sound of the name.

Weiss held out her hand in an attempt to gather more answer's. "Wait, who's Fe-"

" _No questions? Great! Good luck, have fun!"_ Church quickly said. Weiss quickly attempted to raise her hand again in an attempt to gain attention.

"Wait!" Weiss shouted, before the group was engulfed in a bright orange light.

As the light died down, the group quickly took in their surroundings. They were in the middle of a decaying city, the metal frames of buildings making the all ready eerie city even more sinister. Multiple creatures roamed the city ranging from cockroaches to crows meaning only one thing to the huntresses, there were a lot of dead things here.

"Okay," Ruby sighed, taking in breaths of air to calm herself. "How should we do this?"

"We should probably split into groups of two, cover more ground that way." Sarge suggested, earning a few nods from the group. "I'll go with little red riding hood over there." Sarge continued, pointing to Ruby whilst also earning a few confused looks from the huntresses.

"Why?" Ruby asked, unsure of whether this was some strange tactical decision or something else.

"Because you're the only one wearing red, I respect that." Sarge concluded, earning even more confused looks from the group.

"Thanks...I think..." Ruby replied, looking even more confused.

"I'll go with Yang." Tucker quickly said, causing Yang to shake her head vigorously.

"I don't think that's a good idea!" Yang quickly replied, as both Ruby and Weiss silently chuckled.

"Hey, it's either me or Tweedle-Dum over there!" Tucker replied, pointing at Caboose. Weiss stopped chuckling as she realised the predicament that she was currently in.

"Wait! Yang's right, perhaps-" Weiss was cut off immediately as noticed that Sarge, Ruby, Tucker and Yang had already left, leaving her with Caboose. She slowly turned to Caboose who was staring intently at her.

"We are gonna have SO much fun!" Caboose replied, earning a pathetic whimper from Weiss.

 **00000000**

"We should be going this way!" Sarge shouted at Ruby as they stood at a crossroads, the same crossroad they had been stuck at for nearly an hour.

"Are you kidding me? THIS way offers more cover!" Ruby argued, holding out her hands in exasperation.

"Why the hell would we need cover? THIS way is far more open, meaning we are more likely to get spotted by your friend!" Sarge countered, holding a single finger up.

"But we'll also get spotted by everything else! The cover this way offers would help us avoid conflict!" Ruby replied, hoping now the Sergeant or Colonel or whatever rank he was would see the wisdom in her choice.

"Why the hell would we want to avoid conflict? Conflict leads to violence, which leads to bloodshed, which leads to death which is great!" Sarge queried, causing Ruby to look him in shock.

"Are you saying you WANT to kill people?" Ruby asked exasperatedly, causing Sarge to tilt his head as if considering his response.

"Pretty much." Sarge replied.

Ruby sighed and rubbed her head. She was sure she was getting a migraine at this point.

"I hope the others are getting along better then us..." Ruby sighed before resuming the argument.

 **00000000**

"And that is the story of how Church and I became super best friends for life!" Caboose finished, turning to face Weiss who had a confused look on her face.

"So are you saying he was a guy, then a dead guy, then a robot who died and then he became the memories of that dead robot, who helped you find the original guy who then died?" Weiss asked.

"Yes!" Caboose confirmed.

"And while that was happening, you also encountered an evil robot doctor, an assassin who liked knock knock jokes, an alien who impregnated Tucker, Grif's Sister and a power hungry soldier who had the strength of twenty bears?" Weiss further concluded, confusing her even further.

"I liked the part with the bears!" Caboose replied, causing Weiss to raise her eyebrow.

"I doubt that all of that led to you two being friends, let alone any of it actually happening." Weiss finally said as she continued to walk through the city, intent on putting as much distance between her and Caboose.

"I don't see how it's hard to believe." Caboose replied, quickly catching up to Weiss.

"You blew him up with a tank." Weiss countered, stopping in her tracks to face the blue moron.

"It's okay to be jealous, after all, you are my new best friend and I'm sure we'll have lots of things to do together." Caboose stated. Even though Weiss was sure Caboose was meant to be reassuring, he sounded somewhat sinister.

"Let's just focus on the task at hand." Weiss quickly said, putting even more distance between her and Caboose.

"OH MY GOD!" Caboose quickly shouted, panic clear in his voice.

Weiss quickly turned heel and ran towards Caboose who was somewhat shaking in his armour.

"What is it?" Weiss asked, actually concerned for the first, and probably last, time. Caboose slowly turned to face Weiss and pointed in the alley ahead of him.

"I see dead people!" Caboose quietly whispered.

Weiss turned and gasped. The alleyway ahead of them was filled with the bodies of New Republic soldiers, apparently having been cornered and gunned down. A crow was perched on one the helmets, tearing at an exposed pocket of flesh before spotting the pair and flying off.

"Psst!" Caboose whispered, gaining Weiss' attention. "Do you think they know they're dead?"

Weiss sighed and turned to walk away, attempting to put more distance between her and Caboose.

"I hope the others aren't having a hard time..." Weiss sighed as she heard Caboose quickly catch up to her.

 **00000000**

"So I take it you're into fisting?" Tucker asked, causing Yang to nearly stumble forward in shock.

"What did you just say?!" Yang asked, her eyes flaring slightly.

"I asked if you were into fis-"

Tucker was immediately cut off as Yang socked him around the head, sending him flying into a wall.

"OWW! Son of a Bitch!" Tucker shouted, rubbing his head as he slowly got up. Yang stared at him with an upraised eyebrow as she awaited an apology. "Okay, so if you're not into fisting...what about-" Tucker was once again cut off as Yang grabbed him by his...special place…and squeezed tightly.

"Say something?" Yang asked as Tucker slightly buckled under her grip.

"Ohh...didn't...realise...you were...into...swordplay..." Tucker replied between grunts of pain. Yang sighed, realising she wasn't going to get an apology and relinquished her grip, causing Tucker to take in quick intakes of air.

"Say something along those lines again, and I'll rip your balls off." Yang quietly warned before turning to continue her search.

Tucker waddled behind her as he messaged his crotch, every step causing intense pain. "Man, my boys haven't hurt this much since I crashed that hen night party!" Tucker complained, causing Yang to raise her eyebrow inquisitively.

"You expect me to believe that you crashed a hen night party and slept with everyone there?" Yang asked, turning to face the perverted soldier.

"That's what I want you to believe, but what really happened was the groom arrived and kicked my ass." Tucker admitted, getting a slight sense of déjà vu, feeling as though he had a similar conversation with Wash.

"Tucker, have you actually ever had sex with someone?" Yang asked again, causing Tucker to stop and place his hand on his chin as he went through his thoughts.

"Well, I slept with Grif's Sister, got impregnated by an alien, slept with a bunch of supermodels at Prague...so yeah!" Tucker recollected as he awaited Yang's response.

"Wait, you got impregnated by an alien?" Yang asked, a bewildered look on her face.

"Fuck yeah, Junior's awesome!" Tucker replied, quickly taking a folded piece of paper out and showing it to Yang. "Here's a picture of him with his fifth grade basketball team!"

Yang took the picture and looked at it. The main focus was a large, theropod like alien in teal and blue armour holding a large orange ball whilst in front of him where five other children holding the same balls, all with slight fear in their eyes. Yang stood there in shock, not even flinching when Tucker took the photo off of her.

"They grow up so fast..." Tucker sighed, putting the photo away. "Come on, lets go!" Tucker then said, patting Yang on her shoulder, knocking her out of her trance. She shook her head before joining Tucker and continuing their search.

 **00000000**

 **Hours later…**

It had been hours since their search began, but their efforts were fruitless with the three groups returning empty handed.

"Any luck?" Ruby whimpered as she and Sarge walked towards the other two pairs.

"No..." Weiss replied, who was drained of energy as Caboose simply walked in circles. Yang shook her head, a sombre look in her yes. Ruby sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"We should split up further, cover even more ground." Ruby said, causing her friends to look at her worriedly.

"I don't think that's a good idea Rube's. We could end up getting lost ourselves." Yang countered, hoping her sister would see some sense.

"No, we can't leave Blake behind." Ruby replied, her eyes widening slightly in an attempt to earn sympathy.

Yang sighed and quietly cursed herself. "Okay, but only for an hour. It's getting late and we need rest."

Ruby nodded as the three huntresses went there separate ways in search for Blake, leaving only Tucker, Sarge and Caboose.

"Err, did they just forget about us?" Tucker asked, turning to the others for confirmation.

"Hey, where did everyone go?" Caboose asked, having spaced out during the conversation.

"We should probably set a perimeter...or something...right Sarge?" Tucker asked, turning to face him, only to see the red soldier gone. "Sarge?" Tucker asked, looking for any sign of the soldier.

"Over here blue-tards!" Sarge's gruff voice echoed from a nearby alley. Tucker and Caboose followed the voice and found Sarge staring at a familiar shape hidden beneath a tattered blanket.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tucker asked, turning to face Sarge who simply nodded.

"Think so, and it's still in good shape too." Sarge continued, pulling the blanket off, revealing to the group the device. "If we can fix her up, might be able to cover more ground."

"I don't know man, it's pretty beaten up. Can we even get it working?" Tucker questioned as he inspected the device.

"Nothing a little elbow grease can't solve!" Sarge replied before going round the back and inspecting the cargo. "Gotta be a tool-kit in here somewhere..." He continued to mutter as he searched the contents. Tucker turned to face the alley entrance upon hearing a soft noise.

"Whatever you do, hurry up!" Tucker said, raising his rifle slightly. "I don't think we're alone..."

 **00000000**

Weiss continued through the streets, noticing the large abundance of bodies. Whilst she recognised the armour to be those worn by the New Republic and Federal Army, she noticed that the bodies were clearly segregated. Perhaps Ruby's earlier theory of the two forces being at war with one another was correct after all. She heard some rustling to her left and turned to face it, Myrtenaster in her hand. The rustling continued as she tensed herself, ready for whatever it was. Suddenly, a small rat ran out from behind a bin, racing across the floor and into the shadows. She sighed and lowered her weapon, before turning and continuing on. That was when she heard heavy, quick footsteps behind her.

She turned just as a towering form raised a fist and brought it down towards her. Weiss quickly sidestepped the strike, sliding along and using Myrtenaster to slow herself down. The figure instead pounded the ground, turning to face her as it clenched its fist and rose to full height again. Weiss looked in shock at the familiarity of the form. They wore armour that aside from colour, was identical to Carolina's armour. The figure was also, rather ironically, female as well. The only difference was the armour colour, which was a steel grey along with a silver visor. She also took note of the weapon on her back, a rifle that looked identical to the one Grif carried.

"State your business!" Weiss demanded, earning a small titter from the woman.

"You're gonna give ME orders?" the woman chuckled dryly. "Why don't you shove your orders some place else princess!"

Weiss furrowed her eyebrows and snarled quietly. "You will address me as 'Heiress', cretin!"

The woman didn't reply, simply choosing to charge Weiss, tightening her right hand to deliver a punch. Weiss ducked beneath the blow and slashed at the woman's back, the blow hitting her armour and severing the end off of the rifle. The woman turned and looked down at the severed head of the rifle and flung the weapon off her back, letting it clatter to the ground. The woman then drew a knife from a hidden sheath strapped to the left side of her chest piece and spread her legs slightly to give her space to lunge.

"I don't need a gun to kill you!" the woman sneered, before lunging at Weiss, slashing with her right hand.

Weiss once again dodged the blow and stabbed at her exposed leg. The strike slid harmlessly off her armour allowing the woman to counterstrike with her left hand, knocking Weiss back with a punch to the face. Weiss rubbed the side of her face as the woman followed through with a slash with the knife. Weiss quickly dodged the blow, but noticed a tear in the left side of her jacket. She studied the tear and saw the knife had gone through both her jacket and shirt underneath, exposing her shoulder slightly. She sighed, grateful that the blade had not drawn blood and her Aura was still active to an extent. She turned to face the woman, who twirled the blade in her hand before readjusting her stance.

"Tell you what, surrender now and I promise to make it quick." the woman suggested, cocking her head slightly.

Weiss sneered, readying herself for the woman's next move.

"I hoped you'd say no..." the woman replied, charging once again.

As Weiss suspected, the woman was on the offensive, hoping to push her against the wall at her back. And Weiss let her, knowing the woman's overconfidence would be her downfall. Weiss glanced behind her and saw the wall was right behind her. The woman let out a primal yell and swung her left hand at Weiss, hoping to stun her with a punch before gutting her with the blade. That was when Weiss made her move. She rolled beneath the fist and slid so she was facing the woman's back as her fist was mere millimetres from impacting the wall. She used her semblance to form an Ice glyph on the wall and another two beneath her feet. As her fist hit the glyph, ice erupted around her arm followed immediately by the two beneath her feet. The woman looked around in shock, dropping her knife in the process. Her left hand was frozen to the wall whilst her feet were secured to the ground. The only area's not covered in ice were her head and right arm.

The woman growled as Weiss admired her handiwork. "Why you...bitch!" the incapacitated woman yelled, attempting to tug her arm free. Weiss let out a small snigger and turned to leave. She however, stopped in her tracks as she heard the woman let out a small snigger.

"What's so funny?" Weiss demanded, pointing Myrtenaster at the woman.

"You should really watch your six..." the woman simply sneered.

Before Weiss could enquire further, she felt something heavy hit her head, before everything went black.

 **00000000**

Yang wandered through the streets, being careful not to disturb the dead there. She was tempted to shout out to Blake, but remembered Church's warning about others being in the city. She had to admit, she was curious about who they meant but hadn't bothered to ask Tucker about it. She shuddered at the thought of the alien baby. How the hell did he even give birth? Did it come out of his ass, or his mouth, or was it like in that Scott Ridley film where the Grimm burst through that guys chest and massacred an entire military base? Her train of thought however was quickly broken at the sound of fast footprints.

She turned and found herself facing a woman that looked a lot like Carolina charging her, with her fist raised ready to punch her. Yang ducked beneath the blow and stood up immediately after, sending the woman over her shoulder and landing on her back. Yang turned to face the woman as she got up, who shook her head and cracked her neck slightly.

"Carolina?" Yang asked, cocking her head whilst raising her fists.

"Not even close..." the woman sneered, swinging with her right hand which Yang quickly blocked. The woman then followed through with a kick to Yang's stomach, causing her to double over. The woman then grabbed her by the back of her head and flung her forward, hoping to knock off balance. Yang was quick to recover and managed to balance herself, standing up straight and facing the woman. Yang noticed that the woman had a large grey weapon on her back and deduced that the woman had refrained from using it merely due the fact it had enough power to kill them both. The safest course of action was to stay in close quarters, which the woman appeared to be good at. Fortunately, she was better.

The woman charged again, raising her left arm to bring a fist down on her. Yang caught the arm and delivered a punch with her left arm, stunning the woman slightly. Yang then twisted the woman's arm at an unnatural angle, causing the woman to scream in pain as she was forced to her knees. As the woman turned to deliver some snide comment, Yang punched her in the head, sending her spiralling forward and knocking her unconscious.

Yang dusted her hands together as the woman continued to groan, as she turned to continue her search for Blake.

 _BANG! BANG! BANG!_

Yang froze and turned to the sound of the noise. It was close, but not in her range of view. The gunshots were unfamiliar which only increased her curiosity.

 _BANG!_

This time, there was only one shot, but it was horrifyingly familiar.

"Ruby!" Yang shouted, rushing forwards with all her might as the fighting continued unabated.

"Hang in there sis, I'm coming!"

 **00000000**

Ruby dashed through the streets, continuing her search for Blake. She was tempted to use her semblance, but knew continued use would only tire her out. Nonetheless, she wouldn't abandon her friend and team-mate. She stopped in a small clearing, untouched by any previous combat. She looked around, hoping to see if Blake was hiding here, but alas, she wasn't. She went to move on, when she heard scuffling nearby. Ruby quickly turned to face the noise with Crescent Rose in its Scythe form at hand, as the noise continued.

"Blake?" Ruby asked, her eyes narrowing slightly. Immediately a form came into view, but it wasn't Blake. They wore grey and orange armour and held a rifle similar to the one Tucker used. The figure turned and was taken aback by the sight of Ruby.

"Whoa! Take it easy!" the figure chuckled, raising his hands slightly.

Ruby stumbled at the sound of his voice. It sounded somewhat like Jaune except older and a lot less nervous. She lowered Crescent Rose and stepped forward slightly.

"What's a young girl like you doing out here?" the person asked, the friendliness in his voice still present.

"Uhhh, I'm looking for someone..." Ruby said, not entirely sure she could trust this person. His armour was completely different to what everyone else she had seen wore and they were warned that others were in the city that were less hospitable. But this person had been nice so far and didn't seem mean.

"Friend of yours?" the person asked, cocking his head slightly. Ruby simply nodded her head, still unsure about this person. "Say, I'm looking for someone as well. Maybe if we help each other out we can find them?" The person asked, holding out a hand.

Ruby narrowed her eyes, unsure of whether to trust this stranger or not.

"How about we exchange names or something, you know, get a bit more comfortable with one another?" the person suggested. Ruby considered the idea before nodding. "All right then, you first."

"My names Ruby." Ruby said, earning a chuckle from the man.

"All right then, 'Ruby'," the person laughed, before pointing to himself. "Names Felix."

Ruby froze at the name, remembering Church's warning. Ruby began to walk backwards causing Felix to tilt his head slightly.

"Something wrong?" Felix asked, this time more sinister than friendly.

"You know, I think I'll be okay by myself!" Ruby replied, tightening her grip on Crescent Rose. Felix shook his head as he placed his free hand on the barrel of his rifle.

"Well that's a shame..."

With lightning fast speed, Felix raised the rifle and let out three controlled bursts. Ruby ducked beneath them as Crescent Rose shifted into it's sniper form and she let out a single shot. Felix narrowly dodged the bullet as it hit the wall behind him.

"What the fuck! I thought you had a Scythe! Why is everything you freaks have also a gun!" Felix shouted, letting out a few more controlled bursts from his rifle.

Ruby was caught back by his statement, but continued to dodge the bullets regardless. She then let out two more bursts with Crescent Rose. Felix dodged both bullets before throwing a grenade overhead. Ruby shot the grenade mid air, but was caught off guard by fire from Felix. She quickly took cover behind a stone barrier and checked her weapon, she was sure one of the bullets had hit Crescent Rose. She scanned the weapon and saw that the magazine holder was bust, meaning reloading wasn't an option until the weapon was repaired. She was, however, thankful the weapon could still shift between forms. Shifting Crescent Rose into scythe form, she broke cover and charged Felix.

Catching him off guard, she managed to disarm him and delivered a kick to his chest. Felix stumbled back and growled slightly, unsheathing a knife hidden in his armour and swiping in a large arc in front of him.

Ruby only just managed to dodge the strike, she could feel the force the knife carried, which was impressive considering how fast he moved. Time to show him just how fast she could go. Using her semblance, she barrelled forward, spinning Felix around and causing him to stumble. She then barrelled forward again, cause him to spin yet again. She then charged one last time, knocking Felix onto his back and sending the knife flying from his grasp.

Felix was enraged to say the least, not only from being shown up, but by a GIRL nonetheless. He slammed the ground in frustration as his right hand went for his pistol.

"You think you're fast? I'll show you fast!" Felix seethed as he stood up, his left arm held up in a defensive manner. Ruby charged yet again, preparing to deliver an overhead strike and finish it. As she was inches away, Felix activated his hardlight shield and held it up. Unable to stop herself, Ruby collided with the shield, sending her spiralling backwards and Crescent Rose flying from her grip.

As she recovered, she attempted to stand, only for a metal foot to clamp down on her chest. Felix chuckled as he held the pistol in his right hand and aimed it at Ruby's head.

"End of the line kiddo..." Felix sneered, his finger tightening on the trigger.

"HEY!"

"Oh come one!" Felix shouted, turning to face his left side. Ruby followed his gaze and saw Yang standing, her hair nearly ablaze.

"Leave! My! Sister! Alone!" Yang shouted, charging forward ready to pummel Felix to death.

Suddenly, an invisible force knocked Yang off her feet, sending her spiralling to the wall, her hair no longer burning. She shook her head as she heard the all too familiar sound of a gun priming itself. A figure materialised before them, a soldier in steel grey armour aiming a rifle at Yang's head.

"Nicely done Samson!" Felix stated, causing the soldier to turn slightly in acknowledgement.

"Thank you, sir!" Samson replied, his gaze never leaving Yang who was still recovering from the blow.

Felix knelt until he was nearly face to face with Ruby, lowering the gun as he shook his head.

"I gotta admit, you are impressive for your age." Felix said, chuckling slightly. "If you were any older, I would bet you'd be near unstoppable!"

"Sir..." Samson said, his voice slightly uneasy.

"It's rude to interrupt, Samson! I'll get to you in a minute!" Felix replied, turning to face Samson before averting his gaze back to Ruby.

"In fact, I would say you nearly got the better of me!" Felix continued, rising back to full height again. "Nearly..."

"Sir..." Samson said yet again, even more nervously then before.

"I said in a minute!" Felix shouted, holding out his hand in a motion to wait.

"Now as I was saying, at the end of the day, all that matters is that I'm faster then you, I'm stronger than you, which means I'm better then you!" Felix continued, aiming the pistol at Ruby's head and clicking the safety off. "And if I'm better then you, then I can kill you!"

"Sir!" Samson shouted, gaining Felix's full attention.

"Oh my god! What?" Felix shouted, raising his arms exasperatedly.

"Listen!" Samson replied.

"I don't hea-wait a minute..." Felix said, staying silent for a few seconds. "Is that...music?"

Yang and Ruby both listened, and could hear some strange music. And it was getting closer.

Suddenly, a beaten up military Jeep crashed through into the small space, sending Samson spiralling backwards into a pile of bins. The car then slid to a stop, the back facing Felix who stood back in complete shock.

"You've gotta be fucking kidding me!" Felix shouted, allowing Ruby to quickly grab Crescent Rose and run towards Yang.

"You okay sis?" Yang groaned as Ruby helped her up.

"Yeah, who is that?" Ruby both answered and asked. Yangs eyes widened as she spotted the occupants of the vehicle.

"No way..." Yang whispered.

"Hey Felix!" Tucker shouted, manning the turret of the beaten Warthog. "Say hello to my little friend!" he continued in his best scar-face impression, unleashing a barrage of bullets at the merc. Felix blocked the bullets with his hardlight shield, before firing a single shot from his pistol, hitting one of the guards on the turret.

"Ahh shit! Retreat! Retreat!" Tucker shouted as Sarge revved the Warthogs engines as Samson recovered and joined Felix in his assault.

"Eat dirt, dirt-bags!" Sarge taunted, spraying both Felix and Samson in dirt and dust before driving away. Felix growled and grabbed Samson by the shoulder.

"After them!" Felix shouted, pointing in the direction of the fleeing warthog.

"But sir the girls!" Samson complained, gesturing to the huntresses who were still in shock from what had transpired.

"I don't care! Find the sim troopers, then we can go back for them!" Felix shouted. Samson reluctantly complied and ran after Sarge, Caboose and Tucker, followed immediately by Felix.

"That was lucky!" Ruby sighed. Yang nodded in agreement before grabbing Ruby and moving forward.

"We need to find Weiss and get the hell out of here!" Yang said, something Ruby readily agreed with.

"Come on, this way." Ruby said, freeing her from Yang's grasp and heading towards an alley. "I think I saw Weiss go this way earlier, maybe we can-" Ruby stopped in her tracks upon turning the corner.

Yang stopped as well as they saw a soldier with a rifle lowered at the pair. "I wouldn't come closer if I were you..." the soldier quietly warned. "Now, drop your weapons!"

"Or what?" Yang asked, readying Ember Cilica whilst Ruby readied Crescent Rose. The soldier jerked her head slightly to the left and another figure, this one a man, came out of the shadows holding an unconscious Weiss at knife point.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted, she was about to charge forward when the man pressed the blade against Weiss' throat.

"I'm going to count to three, and if you haven't dropped your weapons, little princess over here is getting a makeover!" the woman threatened, gesturing to Weiss who was only just regaining consciousness.

"One," the woman began, Ruby looking pleadingly towards Weiss who was only just realising the situation she was in.

Ruby! Don-" Weiss was cut off as the soldier clamped his free hand over her mouth, turning her words into mere muffles.

"Two," the woman continued as the man pressed the blade further onto Weiss' throat, who could only writhe in an attempt to free herself.

"Wait!" Ruby shouted. Slowly she dropped Crescent Rose onto the floor. She had all ready lost Blake, she wasn't going to lose Weiss as well.

"Good," the woman said in a snide manner, "That goes for your friend to!" she continued, gesturing towards Yang.

Yang stared daggers at the woman, unwilling to relinquish Ember Cilica.

"If you don't disarm now, then-" the woman was cut off by the sound of gunfire. The man screamed in pain and relinquished his grip on Weiss as he fell forward, his back riddled with bullets. Weiss took in sharp intakes of air as she rubbed her throat, not caring for the sight of the dead body beside her.

"What the-" the woman was cut off once again by bullets, this time hitting her square in the chest and neck. She grunted in pain before falling over, dead.

" _Targets eliminated!"_ a robotic voice announced, a voice Weiss recognised.

"Please don't tell me it's who I think it is..." Weiss pleaded, as she began to stand up.

"YES! I SAVED LADY CHURCH!" Caboose shouted, as Ruby retrieved Crescent Rose and Weiss retrieved Myrtenaster off of the floor. Caboose was quickly joined by Sarge and Tucker, the group now reunited with one another.

"Sup." Sarge said, nodding his head.

"Wait, what happened to your ride?" Yang asked, noticing the Jeep was nowhere in sight.

"I abandoned it for a more direct approach..." Sarge replied, almost too quickly for it to be true.

"Bullshit!" Tucker said, turning to face Sarge. "You totally crashed it into a wall!"

"Ahh quit your belly aching!" Sarge countered.

"This way!"

The group turned at the sound Felix and the other soldier quickly gaining on them.

"Quick, run!" Ruby shouted, running off in the opposite direction, followed by the rest of the group. The group continued but stopped at the sight of a female soldier with a cracked visor holding a heavy weapon on her shoulder.

"Uh-oh..." Yang muttered as she recognised the soldier from her earlier brawl.

"Remember me, bitch!" the soldier seethed, before firing the weapon, sending out a volatile ball of orange energy their way.

"Evasive action!" Sarge shouted as the group dropped to the floor, the round going directly over them and hitting a nearby building, reducing a large part of it into ash.

The group continued to flee as Felix and the remaining two soldiers gained on them. The group continued to make multiple diversions, hoping to lose the pirates through sheer luck. Their luck, however, ran out as they found themselves cornered in an alleyway.

"They went this way!" the female soldier shouted, soon popping around the corner, followed by Felix and Samson.

Tucker fired some bursts from his rifle, the female soldier activated her hardlight shield, causing the bullets to ricochet onto the wall instead.

"End of the line people!" Felix taunted, taking the hybrid rocket launcher off the woman's back and calibrating the weapon.

"Crap, what do we do?!" Tucker shouted.

Ruby looked at her friends, they silently nodded to her, sombre looks on their faces. Ruby closed her eyes as she took out the last teleportation cube and applied pressure on the button.

"I'm sorry Blake..." Ruby whispered as the sound of the explosive came closer. They were suddenly engulfed in a flash of orange light, and found themselves back in Armonia.

"Great job you guys, you saved Blake!" Donut cheerily shouted. The huntresses looked around to see Grif, Donut and Simmons alongside multiple Fed and Republican soldiers.

"Yeah, great job you guys! You didn't leave your friend to die in a war-torn wasteland because if you did, what kind of friend would you be? Never mind what kind of leader!" Grif followed up, unaware of Blake's absence. Ruby immediately ran off, covering her eyes to hide her tears, leaving the group behind.

"Was it something I said?" Grif asked. He turned his head to see Yang making a beeline for him, her fist clenched ready to deliver a punch. "Oh no, not again..." Grif whimpered. Yang punched Grif square in the visor, sending him spiralling backwards and into a wall, temporarily embedding him in the wall. She then turned and ran after Ruby, followed by Weiss.

"This is the best surprise party of all time..." Sarge chuckled as Grif continued to groan.

"Surprise!" Caboose shouted, having once again spaced out.

 **00000000**

Felix growled slightly as he threw the Incinerator Cannon to the ground. He quickly turned to face the two pirates and raised a finger at them.

"Not a word of this to Locus, got it?" Felix threatened. The two pirates hastily nodded there heads as Felix shook himself. "Get back to work, we've still got someone to find!"

 **00000000**

The reds and blues gathered outside the small room the huntresses had taken refugee in. After Grif had been blasted into the wall, none of the others dared enter the room lest they face the wrath of Yang.

"How are they doing?" Wash asked, walking towards the group. He had heard what had happened and wanted to assess the situation himself.

"Well, they haven't broken anything apart from Grif's face so...not bad." Simmons replied, followed by a groan from Grif.

"Has anyone tried talking to them?" Wash asked.

"We would have sent Caboose, but we reckoned that would just piss them off even more." Tucker said, causing Wash to look at Caboose then at Tucker.

"I can see that happening..." Wash quietly replied as he turned to face the door.

"Also I don't lie loud noises..." Caboose added, causing everyone to look at him in confusion.

Wash then began to walk towards the door, only for Tucker to pull him back.

"What the hell are you doing?" Tucker asked as Wash brushed his hand off.

"I'm going to talk to them." Wash replied. He once again walked to the door only for Tucker to grab his shoulder again.

"Are you crazy?" Tucker asked exasperatedly, Wash once again brushing Tucker's hand off his shoulder.

"Relax, I'm a freelancer, I've faced worse..." Wash reassured, walking towards the door. He opened the door and was immediately pulled inside by Yang. Wash fell to the floor but recovered quick enough to face Yang, who stopped upon seeing him.

"Oh, I thought you were..."

"Yeah I know." Wash replied, slowly getting up. He observed his surroundings, and saw Weiss standing over Ruby, who was huddled in the corner, her eyes red from crying.

"What do you want?" Ruby slowly asked, not even bothering to face Wash.

"Are you all right?" Wash asked, causing Ruby to send a sombre glare at Wash.

"What do you think? We left our friend behind!" Ruby shouted, before turning away from Wash.

"It's not your fault, no-one could have known this would happened!" Wash countered, edging slightly closer to Ruby.

Ruby immediately rose up and dashed towards Wash, catching him off guard slightly. "How can you say it's not my fault! I chose to leave my friend behind! What type of leader chooses to leave members of their team behind?" Ruby shouted, she waited for Wash to counter, but he merely sighed and lowered his head.

"A good leader, a leader who is willing to make sacrifices for the sake of their team. You had no other choice but to abandon your friend, but because of it, your team lives on!" Wash finally replied. "If you chose to stay and die, then no-one would be looking for Blake!"

Ruby was taken back by the comment, she attempted to think of a response but deep down, knew Wash was right.

"Besides," Wash continued, "maybe she avoided the space pirates and is still out there!"

The four were suddenly alerted to the sound of footsteps approaching fast. The door slid open as a Republican technician entered the room.

"Sir, we think we've found her again!" he hastily replied as he took in sharp inhales of air. The huntresses were quickly intrigued and looked at Wash.

"Show me!" he ordered. The tech nodded his head and gestured for them to follow. The huntresses and Wash followed the tech who led them to a small building with a radio dish on the top. The group entered the building and saw multiple technicians piloting remote controlled drones. The tech led them to one of the screens being monitored by a Fed tech who quickly brought up a picture of a woman rushing through the forest.

"It's Blake!" Ruby cheered, nearly startling the Fed tech.

"Where is she?" Wash asked, turning to the Republican technician.

"She's currently heading north, out of New Lincoln. Sir that's uncharted territory, we have no forces in that sector." The technician replied. Wash turned to face the huntresses, who all had pleading looks on their faces.

"Don't worry, we'll find her." Wash reassured the group, who slowly smiled.

"We also saw this sometime after sir," the Fed technician said, "We've been monitoring it since it came up and it's gaining on her fast!"

"One of the lizards maybe?" Wash questioned, turning to face the Fed.

"We thought so at first, but it's too small, getting a picture up now."

The image of Blake was immediately replaced by one of the same cluster of tree's but instead of Blake, there was someone else. The figure was too blurry to discern, but appeared to be turning invisible.

"Oh no..." Wash whispered. He turned to face the Republican technician. "I need a teleportation cube, now!"

 **00000000**

"Are you serious?" Locus enquired, having just finished listening to Torchwick's tale.

"Every word, don't believe me?" Torchwick chuckled, tilting his hat slightly.

"I asked for information, not some poor attempt at fan-fiction!" Locus replied angrily, walking towards Torchwick menacingly.

"You asked for the truth, I told you the truth! It's your problem if you don't believe it!" Torchwick countered. Locus growled and turned to face the wall. The tale was hard to believe, but their were elements that were true. It also explained a great deal of questions, such as how that 'Blake' was able to heal at a faster rate, as well as those apparitions she had summoned.

The radio in his helmet suddenly buzzed to life, surprising him slightly.

"This is Locus, report!"

" _It's Felix, we lost her!"_ Felix voice sounded through the comms.

"What?" Locus demanded. "What happened?"

" _The reds and blues happened, that's what! They killed two of our guys and then got away!"_

"Did they find the girl?" Locus demanded. If they did, then their position was most definitely compromised.

" _No, but they found her friends! And they're good too. We picked up her tracks and she's heading further north into the jungle. Should we go after her?"_

Locus was silent for a moment, Felix and his men wouldn't be able to catch her up in time. That being said, she couldn't be allowed to live.

"Negative, report back to base! I'll deal with this." Locus finally replied, the radio going silent shortly after. He quickly attached the pistol to his thigh and removed one of the SAW's off the wall.

"Where are you going?" Torchwick enquired as Locus placed the SAW on his back and took a Sniper Rifle off the wall.

"If you want a job done right," Locus replied, ejecting a used round from the rifle. "Do it yourself!"

 **00000000**

 **Will Wash find Blake first, or will the hunter become the hunted? Find out next week! Also, don't expect the next chapters to be as long as this chapter. Now on to a special announcement, I have started production on a NEW RWBY/Starcraft Fan-Fic entitled 'The Will of Amon'. Current details are on my profile page so if you're a fan of either RWBY, Starcraft or just like my writing, I would advice you check it out when it comes out. In the mean time, please leave your reviews and constructive criticism is always welcome. If you have any questions about either this fan-fic or the new one, either PM or leave them in a review.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	9. Hunter: Hunted

**Hello there my faithful viewer's. First off, I would just like to thank those that left their reviews for the last chapter. It's good to see that you all enjoyed the chapter as much as I did writing it. Also to Harbinger the Reaper, god I hope that's how you say it, I thank you for sending me your idea's. I appreciate the idea, however, I am unlikely to use it I'm afraid. The story is technically already written down plot wise and it's just a matter of writing it up now. No offence intended of course. Now onto the questions, just the one from 'guest2' asking if RWBY will get their own armour. No, as I believe that it would make sense for them not to have armour both plot and lore wise. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 9- Hunter: Hunted**

Blake ran as fast as her legs would allow her, ducking beneath low hanging branches and jumping over small rocks. She could hear behind her the pounding footsteps and they were getting closer. It had been nearly half an hour since she left the city and evaded the pirates. She had at one point nearly been spotted by another group of armoured individuals fixing a Jeep. She didn't know who they were, but theorised they were most likely scavengers attempting to make a profit out of the misfortune of others. It was people like them that made her sick.

A guttural roar echoed throughout the forest, the footsteps getting louder. The thing was almost upon her, she had to move quickly. As she continued to run, her foot snagged on a hidden tree root, toppling her over with an audible thud. She quickly pushed herself up and turned. The beast came crashing through the terrain and stopped just mere metres from her, saliva drooling from its gaping maw.

It was reptilian in nature, its forest green scales shimmering in the light. A large horned head roughly the size of Blake's body sat at the end of a short neck, yellow eyes gazing at her with malicious intent. A set of pale yellow teeth protruded from it's mouth, some stained with blood, with the top front teeth sticking out when the beasts jaws closed. Long arms supported it's front half, ending with a three toed foot with dagger like claws at the end. Two digitigrade legs supported it's hind quarters with a spiked elongated tail swayed like a serpent behind it. Blake had seen one of these things when she first came across the city, but that one was a runt in comparison. This one had to have been the size of an Ursa Major, if not bigger!

She quickly drew Gambol Shroud, the weapon shifting into its pistol form, and let out three bursts aimed directly at the creatures head. The bullets bounced harmlessly off it's skull, causing it to shake it's head in frustration as it roared back. It's body began to tense, as Blake realised it was preparing to pounce. The beast lunged at her, maw gaping open large enough for it to grasp her, but far to small for her to place a shot there. As the beast was mere inches from her, Blake activated her semblance, rolling backwards as the Shadow Clone took the hit for her. As the beast landed, it began to furiously shake its head, believing it had caught it's prey. It took it a second later to realise it had been duped, enough time for Blake to flee.

She could hear the creature gaining on her again, and she was sure it wouldn't fall for the same trick again. She continued to run, never once looking back, the beast still gaining on her. Her mind was so focused on escaping, she nearly fell into the ravine in front of her, only barely able to stop in time. The bottom was too dark to see, meaning jumping into it was not an option. Turning back was also not an option, the beast now getting closer and closer. She steadied herself and gazed to the other side. The distance was massive, but perhaps she could make it across. She breathed deeply and tensed her legs. The foliage behind her snapped as the creature came crashing through, mere inches from her back.

She ran forward and jumped, the beast lunging at her as it snapped it's jaws shut. Blake held her arms out in an attempt to propel herself forward. She could hear the sound of claws grinding against stone behind her, alongside a panicked wail. Her hand grasped for the edge of the rock, her grip tightening as she felt the cold stone touch the palm of her hand. Using her free hand, she pushed herself up, until she had enough purchase on the rock face to pull the rest of her body onto the flat surface. She looked back and saw that the creature had only just managed to stop itself, the tips of it's pitch black claws hanging over the edge of the ravine. The beast glared at her, before turning tail and leaving in search of easier prey. Blake let out a sigh of relief, turning in search of civilisation but more importantly, put more distance between her and the Pirates.

Seconds turned to minutes and minutes turned to hours as Blake continued to wade through the forest, the only sign of life being the occasional bird or insect. Blake stopped in her tracks and lowered into a crouch, taking a short break before continuing. It had been nearly a day since she had last eaten or drank anything. She had to find something quickly or else starve to death. As she rose, she heard a branch snap. She stopped and surveyed the forest. The foliage made it nearly impossible to spot anything, she had to rely solely on her advanced hearing. She began to move forward, still looking for whatever could have made the noise…

 _BANG!_

The bullet flew past her, the round mere millimetres from her nose. She quickly took cover behind a tree as another shot fired behind her. She steadied her breathing and edged closer to the edge of her cover. She gazed out and saw movement in the foliage, edging closer to her. She saw the unmistakeable barrel of a Sniper Rifle, but what horrified her was the one who wielded it. They wore steel grey armour with a sage trim, another rifle strapped to their back and a pistol holstered to his right leg. Bulky armour covered them from head to toe, but was still small enough to provide flexibility. But the most distinguishable feature was his helmet, shaped like a skull with a large 'X' on the front of it. Locus.

Blake held her breath in an attempt to calm herself and began to analyse the situation in her head. As long as he had the Sniper Rifle and stayed in cover, he had the advantage. She had to draw him out and disarm him if she wanted to even the odds. She unsheathed Gambol Shroud, activating the katana form, and swayed the blade in the ground in front of her, making sure to make as much noise as possible. She held her back against the tree and waited. Locus was quiet, there was no denying that, but she could slightly hear him approaching, the footsteps getting louder. She looked either side to ensure he wasn't circling and continued to wait.

She could see the end of the rifle now to her right, and she continued to wait until a good portion of it was visible. She brought Gambol Shroud down, the hilt locking itself onto the barrel as another shot fired. She revealed herself as Locus raised the rifle again, Blake swatting the rifle with the flat of her blade, wasting another one of Locus' shots. She then raised Gambol Shroud over her head, ready to swing it down as Locus raised the rifle in defence. Gambol Shroud sliced through the rifle like a hot knife through butter, staggering Locus back as he held the cleaved ends of the rifle in both hands. She readied herself to deliver an upper-cut in order to knock him off his feet.

 _WHACK!_

Blake keeled over as she felt a long, metal pole hit her in the gut. She felt the item hit her in the head, staggering her and blurring her vision. Her eyesight readjusted as she saw Locus using the severed barrel of the Sniper Rifle like a bat. He then delivered an uppercut, knocking Blake off her feet and sending her flying backwards. Blake shook her head and rose up from the ground, her clothing stained with mud. She had to admit that Locus was resourceful, much to her annoyance. As she readied herself, Locus threw the end of the rifle at Blake, in a manner similar to a throwing knife. Blake parried the blow with ease, confusion entering her mind as to why he would discard the weapon so carelessly.

As she turned to face him, her face dropped slightly as Locus pulled out the rifle strapped to his back. The weapon was similar in design to a Tommy-Gun, and it was aimed straight at her. Locus pulled the trigger and a torrent of bullets erupted at her. Blake barely had enough time to move was the bullets obliterated everything they hit. She took cover behind a tree, the rifle quickly reducing the front of it to splinters. Blake waited the hail of bullets out, knowing a weapon with an ammo clip that size would take a long time to reload.

She heard a clicking noise, signalling the weapon was out, and she broke cover and charged. Locus was quick with his reloading, but Blake was quicker. She kicked the weapon out of his hands, sending it spiralling into a nearby bush. She then followed through with a roundhouse kick, staggering Locus back further. She raised Gambol Shroud to deliver an overhead slice, but Locus caught her wrist mid-air, tightening his grip in an attempt to cause pain. Blake swung at his head with her left hand, but Locus once again caught the fist. He then drew his head back and head-butted Blake, letting go of her as he did so. Blake staggered back, dazed, dropping Gambol Shroud in the process which Locus quickly kicked aside before kicking her in the gut, sending her flying backwards.

"Weak and undisciplined, I expected more from you..." Locus admitted, shaking his head in disappointment.

"I think you'll find I'm full of surprises!" Blake spat back, raising her fists and entering a combat stance.

"We'll see..." Locus replied, before lunging forward with an upraised fist.

Blake quickly parried the blow and delivered a punch of her own, causing Locus to stagger back and spin around in slight surprise. Locus swung forward with both arms, grasping Blake by her head and kneeing her in the forehead, causing her to yelp in pain and staggering her slightly. Locus swung his right fist forward, Blake only just managing to block the blow with her left arm. Locus threw another punch with his left arm before following through his right arm again, both punches being parried by Blake. Locus then thrust both fists forward, hitting Blake in the gut and stunning her before swinging with his left fist, punching Blake in the face and following through with a kick to her chest, staggering her.

Blake shook her head and charged Locus again. She kicked at Locus with her left leg, both blows easily parried by Locus. She swung with her right leg, but was caught off guard when Locus grabbed her leg, pinning it to his left side. As Blake tried to free her leg, Locus grabbed her by the throat and threw her over his shoulder, sending her crashing into the dirt. Locus raised his foot to deliver a curb stomp and finish it. Blake quickly rolled to her right, Locus' foot hitting the floor, sending sand and dirt into the air. Blake delivered a roundhouse kick as she rolled, knocking Locus to the ground.

Blake rose up and wearily raised her fists. She was no specialist when it came to hand to hand combat, that was Yang's speciality. Not to mention the weight of his armour was making his hits harder than normal. If she wanted a fighting chance, she needed her weapon. Something bright caught the corner of her eye and she turned, a look of relief on her face as she spotted the source of the light. Gambol Shroud laid there, half covered in dirt, only a few feet from her. She quickly rolled forward, grasping the handle of the blade as Locus began to rise.

She fired the blade's ribbon at Locus, wrapping around his waist, causing him to look in confusion. She then thrust the blade to the right, the ribbon sending Locus flying with it into a nearby tree, causing him to grunt in pain. She then thrust it to the left, Locus flying towards another tree with an audible crack. The blades ribbon uncurled itself from his waist as Blake waited for Locus to make his move.

Locus began to slowly rise, shaking his head to relieve the pain. He turned and slammed his fist into the palm of his hand, cracking his knuckles as he did so.

"Enough games, it's time to end this!" Locus seethed, as he balled his hands into fists and readied himself.

Blake swung once again with the ribbon, the ribbon reaching out to grasp Locus once again. Locus raised his right arm and allowed the ribbon to wrap around his forearm. Blake was caught off guard by the irrational move, attempting to understand what Locus was thinking. Grasping the rest of the ribbon with his left hand, he pulled sharply. Blake staggered forward, her iron like grip on Gambol Shroud forcing her to follow the pull. Locus then clasped both hands together and delivered an uppercut to Blake, sending her flying and forcing her to let go of Gambol Shroud.

Blake began to rise slowly, her vision blurred. As she rose, she could taste a blood in her mouth. Her aura must have been wavering before the fight even began and now it was completely broken. She knew the next hit Locus threw would be a finisher, she had to make sure that wasn't the case.

Locus flung the weapon forward like a flail, the ribbon still wrapped around his forearm. Blake barely managed to dodge the blow as her precious weapon pierced the dirt, before Locus flung it yet again. This time, the blade pierced a tree, jamming into the wood. Locus attempted to pull the blade free, but the blade wouldn't budge. Blake grasped the blades handle, clicking the button that allowed Gambol Shroud's ribbon to extend. The ribbon zipped forward, dragging Locus along with it. He grunted as he relinquished his grip on the ribbon and rolled forward. As he lifted his head he saw Blake standing in front of him, Gambol Shroud at the ready.

Locus charged forward and swung a single, powerful punch at Blake, but staggered forward as his fist passed through thin air. He turned and saw Blake's form disappear into nothingness. Locus raised his arms and scanned the area, the real Blake had to be near here somewhere. As he continued to search, a single leaf fell in front of him. Startled, Locus watched as the leaf fell to the floor, where it was joined by more. Locus looked up, just as Blake's boot hit him square on the chin.

Locus fell backwards with a thud, Blake having landed on top of him with her knee placed firmly on his chest. As Locus regained his senses, Blake batted him with the flat of Gambol Shroud, causing him to let out a pained yelp as he became more sluggish in his movements.

Blake knew that Locus would recover fast, so she jumped off and ran with what energy she had left. She could hear the sound of rushing water ahead of her. She could use it to her advantage and put further distance between her and-

 _BANG!_

Blake stopped as she felt a white hot pain run through her right leg. She looked down as she saw a crimson river gush down her right leg. Blood, her blood! She turned and saw Locus, pistol in his hand, the barrel of the gun smoking. She attempted move forward, but the pain in her leg caused her to scream out and stumble. She tried to drag herself forward, but felt a hand drag her back by her right foot, causing her to cry out yet again. Locus then knelt down next to her, the pistol aimed at her head.

"I must admit, you've impressed me." Locus said, causing Blake to weakly lift her head. "But you just weren't good enough."

Locus then grabbed her by the head and lifted her up slightly, so she was staring directly at him.

"Torchwick told me everything about you and your friends," Locus continued, before he grasped hold of her bow, placing pressure where her cat ears were hidden. "Everything!" he finished, thrusting her head down into the dirt, the left side of her face still visible as he relinquished his grip and rose to full height.

"When I heard about you, I was impressed to say the least. You were so much more than what you are now. You were a soldier, someone who would follow orders regardless of the outcome." Locus continued, before he began to shake his head. "And then you threw it all away. For what? A better life? An easier one?"

Locus then aimed the pistol at Blake's head as his finger went for the trigger.

"Once, you and I were the same. We were soldiers. But I see now that whilst I'm still a soldier, you are nothing but a coward!"

Blake closed her eyes as she awaited the eventual darkness that edged ever closer.

"Funny," a new voice announced, startling both Locus and Blake. Both turned to the right and saw a new soldier watching, a rifle in his hand. "I was just about to say the same thing."

"Washington!" Locus seethed, his attention turned to the new individual. Washington fired three bursts from his rifle, Locus rolling out of the way before returning fire. Washington ducked the shots and fired again, the shot knocking the pistol out of Locus' hand causing him to grunt in both pain and surprise. Locus rolled into the nearby foliage, activating his Active Camouflage unit in the process. Washington ran forward and grasped hold of Blake's shoulder, causing her to turn his way, a look of surprise on her face.

"This way!" Washington shouted, helping Blake up and supporting the right side of her body as she limped forward. Washington turned and saw Locus deactivating his camouflage unit, a SAW in hand. "Quickly!" Washington shouted again as a torrent of bullets hailed around him. He was glad for the distance between him and Locus. The SAW was lethal at close range, but it's accuracy greatly diminished as the distance increased.

"There's a river this way!" Blake managed to say, nearly passing out from the pain. Washington followed Blake's hand gestures, Locus still approaching and loading a fresh magazine into the SAW. The two continued to move until they came to the edge of a precipice, a shallow river at the bottom.

"If it's not a car, it's a cliff!" Washington murmured. Blake looked down over the edge, the river was far too shallow to jump down safely and even if they could make it down safely, it would be more of a hindrance than an aid.

Locus was approaching faster now, the foliage around them had offered them some cover but it would only be a matter of time until he could get a clean shot.

Washington strapped the rifle to his back and pulled out a small black box with orange lights dancing around it.

"Hold on!" Washington ordered, causing Blake to grip his body tightly. Washington jumped off the edge as Locus came upon them, bullets flying over their heads. Blake forced her eyes shut, not wanting to see the outcome of their fall. Suddenly, she felt a warm sensation throughout her body. She opened her eyes, and saw orange electricity arcing around her before an orange light engulfed them both.

Locus looked over the edge, watching as Blake and Washington were consumed by the energy of the teleportation cube.

"Unfortunate..." Locus sighed, before he activated his own cube, teleporting back to the Pirates base.

 **00000000**

Blake saw nothing but orange for a few seconds, still clutching onto Washington's waist out of fear of what would happen if she let go. Then, the light was replaced by that of a city and both her and Washington landed on the floor with a light thud.

"OH MY GOD! WASH BROUGHT BACK A CAT!" a child-like voice shouted. Blake turned and found herself staring at a group of individuals in similar armour to Washington, three of which she recognised from the ruins.

"Caboose, it's a person, not a fucking Puma!" Tucker said, turning to face Caboose as he spoke.

"A what?" Sarge queried, turning to face Tucker.

"It's a big cat!" Tucker replied, turning his attention to Sarge.

"You're making that up!" Sarge said after a brief silence, causing Tucker to groan.

"But look at her head! They have cat ears!" Caboose continued, pointing at the top of Blake's head.

"Yeah, it's called a bow moron." Grif replied, shaking his head in disbelief.

Blake watched in slight confusion at the bickering group before turning to Washington.

"Who are you people?" Blake finally managed to say, causing Washington to turn towards her.

"BLAKE! YOU'RE ALIVE!" a familiar voice shouted.

Blake turned and was nearly knocked off her feet by Ruby, who gripped her in a bear hug that could rival one of Yang's. Blake laughed to herself as Ruby continued to hug her, who was followed quickly by Yang and Weiss, both of which had smiles plastered on their faces.

"Looks like the gangs all back together!" Yang announced, the smile still present.

"Oh hey look, she brought Kool Aid with her!" Caboose said, staring at Blake's lower half.

The huntresses stared down and nearly gasped in shock. Blake looked down and saw her right leg was nearly caked in blood. Her head suddenly felt light and her vision began to blur rapidly as she strained to hear Ruby.

"Blake, what happened?!" Ruby asked, panic in her eyes.

"Long story..." Blake muttered, before she fell over and saw nothing but darkness…

 **00000000**

 **Dun dun dun! Another chapter complete! Sorry that it was shorter than the last chapter, but I hope the fight scene more than compensated for that. Just a bit more news before I properly finish, I said in the last chapter that I had started production on another fan-fic. I have decided to put the story on hold until after RWBY volume three is finished, the main reasons being to see how the series ends and how much further Pyrrha will develop as a character. In the meantime however, I am working on another fic that takes place before these events transpire so expect another story soonish. Finally, I'm thinking of making a cover for this story and I was wondering what you guys believe would make a good cover. As always, please leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome. If you have any questions, PM me or leave them in your reviews.**

 **Raging Archon out!**


	10. No Time for Chit Chat!

**Why hello my friends, another day another chapter. Sorry it's a bit late but prior commitments forced me to slightly delay this chapter. Only one question from Agent 'Meta' Maine asking for clarification on whether I was postponing this fic or the other one. While the posting of this chapter should clarify the question enough, I do feel the need to apologise for any confusion I caused. I was talking about the RWBY/Starcraft crossover which whilst I have a plot lined up, I need to wait for RWBY Volume 3 before I can actually start some proper work. I have however started work on a RWBY/Overwatch fic called 'Reap What You Sow' so feel free to check it out. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 10-No Time for Chit Chat!**

"Oh god oh god oh god oh god! I hope she's okay!" Ruby franticly repeated, walking around in circles in a panicked fashion. Not one minute after being reunited with Blake and she had to be taken away because some...douche decided to shoot her! All three of them were waiting outside the medical room where Blake was being treated, Yang and Weiss waiting patiently whilst Ruby continued to walk.

"Rube, just stand still already. You're making me feel dizzy!" Yang finally said, her eyes never leaving Ruby.

"How can I stand still! Our friend could be slowly dying for all we know!" Ruby retorted, waving her arms around haphazardly in the process.

"Just take a seat and you'll feel better, trust me." Yang replied, giving a small smile in the process.

"Okay! I can do that!" Ruby agreed, sitting down on the tiled floor before bolting up almost a second later. "I can't do that! It just makes it worse!" Ruby said, resuming to pacing outside the door resuming her small chant of 'oh god oh god'.

"I think I might be getting a migraine..." Weiss whispered, rubbing her temple as she attempted to block out her panicked friends voice.

A hissing noise caught all their attention as the door opened and a Federal Army combat medic walked out, swiping commands on his pad with his bloodstained gauntlets.

"Is she going to be okay?" Ruby asked, rushing up to the medic and catching him by surprise.

"What the...yeah she'll be fine," the medic replied after regaining his bearings before continuing. "She's lost a lot of blood, not to mention she's received some trauma from the torture she's experienced..."

"SHE WAS TORTURED!" Ruby screamed, catching almost everyone present off guard.

"Don't worry! Her wounds are healing up nicely!" the medic reassured, holding his hands out in a form of surrender. "Apart from that, she just has a few cuts and bruises, but nothing too serious. All she needs now is some rest."

Upon hearing those last few words, Ruby collapsed almost immediately. Weiss, Yang and the medic looked down at Ruby's crumpled form, who merely sighed blissfully as a small smile spread across her face.

"Yeah, I don't deal with that stuff..." the medic finally said, walking away as he left to tend to more patients. Yang pulled Ruby up by her arms and laid her against the wall. Ruby finally seemed to regain consciousness, looking up to see Yang and Weiss staring back at her. The gang would be back together at last…

"There a problem here?"

Ruby bolted up almost immediately at the sound of Washington's voice, giving a wavering salute as she stood, followed immediately by Yang and Weiss.

"There's no need for any of that military nonsense ladies, you're not soldiers." Carolina stated matter of factly, causing Ruby, Weiss and Yang to turn sheepishly away as they lowered their arms.

"How's she doing?" Washington asked, stepping forward as he did.

"The doc's said she's gonna be all right, she just needs some rest..." Yang replied, turning to face Ruby and noticing that she looked as though she was about to burst.

"Good to hear," Washington said before continuing. "Just let us know if there is any further-"

Washington was caught off guard as Ruby rushed forward, wrapping him in a bear hug as Washington looked down at her, clearly uncomfortable with what was happening.

"Thank you so much for rescuing Blake!" Ruby screamed, gripping Washington's waist even tighter.

"Errr...thanks I think..." Washington replied, turning to face Carolina who looked like she was actually enjoying herself for once. "Hey uh...Carolina? Mind helping me get her off me?"

"I thought YOU were the people person..." Carolina chuckled slightly as she turned to walk away, leaving Washington with the huntresses.

"That's not funny!" Washington shouted, as he attempted to drag his body free from Ruby's grip.

 **00000000**

"Great! Just fucking great!" Felix shouted as he flipped a nearby table over, scattering the numerous utensils on the table in the process. Locus and Torchwick watched as Felix continued with his rampage, breaking or flipping anything that got in the way of his path of destruction. "I hope you know this is all your fault!" Felix finally said, turning to face Locus whilst pointing at him accusingly. Locus rose almost immediately, taking short steps forward in an attempt to seem menacing.

"Is that so? Tell me then, Felix, how is this all my fault?" Locus asked, tilting his head slightly as he continued to walk forward.

"Where do I begin?!" Felix asked, raising his arms in an exasperated fashion. "She escaped in the first place whilst you were in charge! She then escaped the compound! And finally, she escaped you a third time because your girlfriend Washington intervened!"

"I accept responsibility over those events," Locus replied, seemingly catching Felix off guard. "but YOU were the one who lost her in the city and let a group of small girls and the simulation troopers stop you from carrying out your mission!"

Felix groaned in an annoyed manner before turning around and continued pacing back and forth. Locus grabbed Felix by his shoulder and spun him around so he was facing him, keeping his grip on his shoulder.

"What's done is done! We need to focus on the task at hand now..." Locus said, releasing his grip on Felix and gesturing to Torchwick who had remained idle through out the entire conversation.

"At least we can agree on THAT!" Felix grunted, walking towards Torchwick before clasping his arm around the criminals shoulder. "So Torchwick, I bet you're probably wondering why you're here?" Felix asked as he led Torchwick to the main core room of the temple, followed by Locus and two guards.

"I believe that to be a slight understatement..." Torchwick whispered, glancing around the corridor he was being led through. There was something strange about the carvings on the wall, something familiar…

"Well, I just want some clarification on your story you gave us..." Felix said, placing his other hand on Torchwick's other shoulder reassuringly. "You said that you were teleported by an unidentified alien artefact, correct?"

"That's more or less accurate, yes." Torchwick replied, turning his gaze to Felix in a suspicious manner, unsure of what the mercenary was up to. The door before them opened and Torchwick was momentarily blinded by a bright orange light followed immediately by the sound of electricity buzzing in the air.

"By any chance did it look like this?" Felix asked, holding his hand out towards the room. Torchwick's eyes adjusted to the sudden light change and he let out a startled gasp.

Before him was a circular room that was littered with numerous scientific devices. In the centre was a tall metal pillar that spat out electricity as a burning orange core sat in the centre, a strange siphoning device attached to its base. A control panel that danced with digitalised encodings sat next to the siphon whilst a large metal platform capable of supporting a dozen Atlesian Knights, maybe more, hovered slightly above the floor.

"I...I believe so..." Torchwick finally muttered, unable to find the right words at first.

"We thought so..." Felix replied, patting Torchwick and gesturing for Locus to step forward.

"You claimed you had re-engineered the device, is that true?" Locus asked, his already intimidating form towering over Torchwick.

"Yes, I managed to re-engineer the device to suit my purposes." Torchwick replied, a hint of pride present in his voice.

"And what purpose was that?" Locus asked, cocking his head slightly as he spoke.

"I managed to make the device change its primary settings from an unknown purpose to create an EMP blast," Torchwick replied, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "If you'd like, I could re-engineer THIS device to create the same effect on your enemies."

Torchwick allowed the idea to settle in the two mercs minds. The two looked at one another before Felix nodded. Locus then turned to face Torchwick as he gave there answer.

"No."

"I beg your pardon?" Torchwick asked, confusion present in both his voice and on his face.

"We said no." Felix replied, crossing his arms as he did.

"Our enemies are holed up in the city of Armonia. Whilst it's true that the EMP would short-circuit their vehicles, the city itself is powered by a Nuclear reactor which maintains the city." Locus followed through, pacing around Torchwick like a wolf herding sheep.

"Then why am I here?" Torchwick asked, who was now more curious then confused.

"Do you know what this device does?" Felix asked, gesturing to the artefact in the centre of the room.

"No, why do you ask?" Torchwick replied without even glancing at the artefact. If it was anything like the one on Remnant then there was no point guessing.

"It's a teleporter," Locus replied, stopping next to the control panel as he spoke. "From what our experts here can discern, it acted as a gateway between worlds for whoever constructed these temples."

"We've managed to siphon some of the energy from the core to create the teleportation cubes our guys carry," Felix continued, moving to join Locus at the control panel. "Unfortunately we haven't been able to get the teleporter itself online." Felix said before pointing at Torchwick. "And that's where you come in."

"Me?" Torchwick asked, bewildered at what Felix said. "What makes you think I can do anything?"

"You managed to re-engineer this device to suit your purposes, a far more difficult task then the one we expect you to do." Locus replied, stepping forward slightly.

"And what task is that?" Torchwick asked, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

"Get the teleporter online and working." Felix replied, shrugging his shoulders as he spoke. "Unless, you know, you're scared of the consequences..."

"I'll get it working all right..." Torchwick replied, giving Felix a quick glare before turning his attention to the device. "I suppose the plan is to teleport your forces into the city and attack them where they least expect it?"

"No, our forces are too few to handle that many troops." Felix quickly replied, causing Torchwick to turn to the both of them.

"Then why do you want this device working?" Torchwick asked, raising his arms as he spoke. "For reassurance?"

"No," Locus replied, his attention seemingly turned to the main door as if expecting something. "For this."

As if on cue, Jackson came through the door, pushing forward a very large device into the room. It was cylindrical in design with multiple wires protruding out of the device. A small computer panel was attached to the device to initiate whatever commands were necessary for the device to work. Torchwick also took note of how carefully Jackson handled the device, as if any sudden movement would cause untold destruction.

"What...is that?" Torchwick asked, though something told him he already knew the answer before he even began.

"That, my friend, is a bomb." Felix answer, placing his hands on Torchwick's shoulders, startling him slightly.

"It's set to a minute timer and will cause destruction in a four mile radius." Locus continued as his hand gently stroked the edge of the control panel. "Once the bomb is armed, you can't stop it."

"Now, we know what you're thinking. That bomb alone can't possibly destroy an entire city, can it?" Felix mimicked, walking around so he was facing Torchwick. "Well, you're right. But teleport it next to a Nuclear reactor…" Felix didn't even finish his sentence as he used his hands to mimic an explosion, sound effects included.

"So, do you think you can do it?" Locus asked, almost sounding threatening. Torchwick sighed before looking at the two, a sinister grin on his face.

"Of course, when do I start?"

"Now, I'll call back all our scouting parties and make sure they're outside the blast zone." Locus announced before turning to leave the room.

"Good idea," Felix replied before turning to face Jackson and the two guards that had accompanied them. "You three, stay here and make sure Mr Delarge over here doesn't do anything stupid whilst I go get a more...permanent guard dog for him."

"Got it, boss." Jackson replied as Felix left the room.

All was silent before Torchwick sighed and turned to face Jackson.

"Is he always this much of a prick?" Torchwick asked, raising an eyebrow as he spoke.

"You kinda learn to just tune it out." Jackson replied, the two guards nodding and grunting in agreement.

 **00000000**

"You know, when I think about it, how have we even gotten this far?" Simmons asked, causing the rest of the assembled Reds and Blues to look at him questioningly.

"What do you mean?" Grif asked as he rubbed his arm, having sprained it whilst over reaching for a sandwich in the back of the fridge.

"Well statistically speaking, if we were to go through the events we've been through another thousand times, we would probably have died like...a thousand times!" Simmons replied, causing all of them to look at one another in realisation.

"Then how have we survived? Through pure skill?" Tucker asked, earning a laugh from everyone present.

"Are you kidding me? When we started, we were basically living training dummies for the Freelancers. Know we're just training dummies for whoever wants to shoot us." Simmons replied, waving his arms hysterically.

"I prefer the term pacifier." Caboose butted in, causing everyone to groan in slight annoyance.

"Not THAT type of dummy idiot!" Tucker said, turning to face the blue moron.

"Lets face it, we're just a bunch of training dummies that got lucky!" Simmons continued, earning a disapproving grunt from Sarge.

"Speak for yourself, I used to be an ODST!" Sarge said, a large amount of pride present in his voice as he envisioned himself in his old suit, falling from the sky in blaze of glory…

"Weren't you afraid of heights?" Grif asked, snapping Sarge out of his trance.

"That's not important..." Sarge quickly replied, causing Grif to let out an uninterested sigh.

"I think the important thing is that despite O'Mally, the Freelancers, the Meta, CT, the Director and Charon, we're all still in one piece!" Simmons stated, causing nearly everyone present to nod their head in agreement.

" **No todos nosotros , Doc sigue desaparecido. (Not all of us, Doc is still missing.)"** Lopez stated matter of factly, causing Donut to gasp in realisation.

"You're right Lopez! Grif's sister DID die!" Donut shouted. All present grunted in realisation as Lopez shook his head from side to side.

" **Ni siquiera voy a dignificar eso con una respuesta.** **(I'm not even going to dignify that with a response.)"** Lopez sighed, as the Reds and Blues stood in silence.

"So…now what?" Grif asked, looking around expectedly.

"What are you guys doing?" Washington asked, entering the room clearly confused.

"Nothing." Sarge replied almost immediately, the other Reds and Blues grunting and nodding in agreement.

"What is it Wash?" Tucker asked, cocking his head slightly as he awaited Washington's response.

"Have you seen Carolina anywhere?" Washington asked as the Reds and Blues looked amongst one another.

"No, why?" Simmons asked, curious as to why Washington was asking.

"It's Blake, she's waking up." Washington announced, only to be met by a wall of silence. "But if you guys haven't seen her then I should probably get going." Washington continued, turning to leave the room. The Reds and Blues waited for Washington to get out of earshot before speaking once more.

"Shall we go get a sneak preview?" Sarge asked, followed by everyone nodding their heads in agreement.

"Remind me, who's Blake?" Grif asked as the Reds and Blues milled out of the room.

"She's the cat lady!" Caboose replied followed by Tucker letting out an annoyed grunt.

"For the last time Caboose, those aren't cat ears!" Tucker shouted as he left the room.

"She's probably crazy as well." Caboose quickly added before the entirety of the Reds and Blues had left the room and were making there way to the medical centre…

 **00000000**

Felix wandered the hallways of the temple, looking around to make sure he wasn't being followed by either White Fang or their own soldiers. Confident he was alone, he turned into one of the side rooms along the passage, the only source of light coming off the highlights of his armour. He looked around the room, waiting. A sudden noise came from behind him, and with lightning fast reflexes he unsheathed his knife and spun around to slash at whoever it was. His hand was caught mid-air by an invisible force with a grip like iron. The figure materialised, revealing itself to be Locus. Felix loosened upon seeing Locus' form and pulled his wrist free from Locus' grasp.

"You're late!" Locus grunted as he went to ensure the door was properly locked.

"What are you gonna do, call my mum?" Felix replied nonchalantly, crossing his arms across his chest. "Made sure no one is listening?"

"There is no way anyone is either watching or listening in on us." Locus replied, turning to face Felix as he spoke.

"Good, so we gonna get to the matter at hand or we gonna just stand around exchanging pillow talk?" Felix asked, holding his arms out expectantly.

Locus merely grunted before walking towards the far left side of the room and stopping in front of the wall, arms folded behind his back.

"I don't trust Torchwick or his White Fang." Locus finally said, turning to face Felix.

"Good to see we're on the same page for once." Felix replied, innocently twirling the knife in his hand as he spoke.

"As soon as we turn around, they'll stab us in the back." Locus continued as Felix nodded his head in agreement.

"So what do you want to do? Stab them in the back first?" Felix asked, holding his knife up as he spoke.

"Not yet," Locus replied, shaking his head before continuing. "They could still be useful to us."

"How so?" Felix inquired, tilting his head as he awaited a response.

"The girl, Blake, escaped with Washington and is no doubt in the capital as we speak." Locus said "If she survives her injuries, she'll be able to tell them our location..."

"Crap..." Felix muttered as the realisation dawned on him.

"We've been lucky so far in being able to take out there recon teams and drones, but we won't be able to defend this location against a full scale assault." Locus continued as Felix began to rub the back of his head.

"So what do you intend to do?" Felix asked, taking a sudden interest in the far right corner of the room.

"We wait for Torchwick to finish his job, if he does and the bomb is teleported to Armonia with no incident, we strike then." Locus replied, ignoring his partners sudden interest in the corner.

"And if the Feds and Republicans attack?" Felix asked as he readjusted his grip on the knife in his hand.

"We dedicate a small force to help defend against the White Fang. The rest of our troops will be in the temple, preparing for immediate evacuation." Locus replied, watching Felix as his partner slowly turned to face the wall. "When the immediate evacuation is complete, we recall the ground defence and order them to kill any White Fang that try and follow."

"What about Torchwick and the bomb? Kinda defeats the point of having it if he turns tail and runs." Felix asked, his attention now fully back on Locus.

"Your guard still watching him?" Locus asked, cocking his head slightly.

"Yeah..." Felix replied, whatever Locus was suggesting suddenly dawning on him. "So just to be clear...whatever happens, we're gonna kill all the White Fang right?" Felix asked as he turned to leave the room.

"Of course." Locus replied, unsure as to why Felix asked the question.

"Good to know..." Felix quietly replied.

Almost immediately, he spun around and flung his knife into the corner he had previously been observing. The sound of metal hitting flesh followed by a pained grunt resounded in the room as a White Fang soldier crumpled onto the floor out of the shadows, crying out in pain as he attempted to pull the knife free from his gut. With four quick strides, Felix was upon the soldier and quickly brought his foot down on his neck, crushing his windpipe and killing him instantly.

Felix wiped his bloodied foot on the floor and proceeded to pull the knife from the lifeless body, wiping away the blood on his wrist guard before turning to face Locus who hadn't made a single move since Felix threw his knife.

"Next time, make sure the room is properly clear..." Felix calmly said, before turning heel and leaving the room…

 **00000000**

 **Another chapter done. Any questions? Either PM me or leave in your review. Don't forget to review and constructive criticism is always welcome. Also, an internet cookie for whoever spotted the Clockwork Orange reference in this chapter.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	11. A Moment Of Your Time Please?

**Hello my faithful viewers and welcome to the next chapter. So first off just answering a few questions that were asked. Harbinger the Reaper asked about if the Lieutenants and Dr Grey will make an appearance. Perhaps as a cameo in a later chapter, I think something a lot of good Fan-Fictions fail at is that they just overcrowd the roster with characters and it just becomes a huge mess. Thaqif also made a point that Ruby and Simmons have similar traits and personalities. I'll admit, it's an interesting analysis but one I don't agree with. Ruby I feel while she is nervous, is nearly not as nervous as Simmons in some cases. Also while Simmons is just a huge nerd, Ruby is just a weapons nerd really. One final point before we begin, the story has now hit over 100 follows! Yay, triple digits! Now, on with the show!**

 **Chapter 11- A Moment Of Your Time Please?**

The first thing Blake heard was a loud ringing noise. Constant, unending and giving her a huge headache. Then her vision turned from black to white, her eyes narrowing as they attempted to adjust to the sudden change of light. The ringing began to dull as she began to make out the sound of a heart-rate monitor and her vision became less blurred. She was in some sort of hospital dorm, a heart-rate monitor attached to her whilst multiple bags of anaesthetic were also connected to her arm. She looked down and saw she was still in her usual attire, though it had obviously been resown where it had caught on stray branches and cleaned where there had been dirt, grass stains...blood. She looked down at her leg where Locus had shot her and saw that the legging had been resown as well, though the faintest stains of blood were still present.

"BLAKE! YOU'RE AWAKE!"

Blake turned her attention to the noise and was nearly knocked out of her bed when something red and black rugby tackled her, squeezing as hard as it could whilst flailing its legs wildly.

"Ruby?" Blake managed to say as she gently pushed the young huntress off her.

"I'm so glad you're okay! We've been worried sick about you!" Ruby said, sliding off Blake's bed as she stood at the side, a wide grin on her face.

Blake turned her head and saw Weiss and Yang standing near the doorway, content smiles on their faces.

"Well, looks like the gang is back together again!" Yang announced, repeating her statement from earlier.

"Please don't say that sis, the last time you did we ended up getting separated...again!" Ruby quietly said, earning a nervous chuckle from Yang.

Blake let a small smile appear on her face as she watched her team-mates get up to their usual antics. The gang really was back together it seemed. That was when Blake appeared to notice something odd. A large window was on her left side, most likely an observation window for guests to use when medical staff needed space to operate in the room. But that wasn't what Blake found odd. What was odd was the fact there were seven people dressed in futuristic armour watching her.

"Don't move...their senses rely on movement..." the red one said, at least she thought it was the red one seeing as how his head bopped up and down.

"Err...this is mirror glass...right?" the maroon one asked, turning his head to the red soldier.

"Guys, who are those people?" Blake asked, causing the rest of her team to turn their attention to the window and let out a collective sigh.

"Crap, she can see us! Hide!" the orange one shouted, causing all the soldiers to duck out of their sight, save for the blue one who simply turned around.

"Caboose! Get down!" one of them shouted, which one it was she couldn't be sure.

"If I can't see them they can't see me!" the blue soldier, which she theorised to be Caboose, shouted before a turquoise hand grabbed his back and pulled him down with an audible grunt.

Blake just stared in shock at what she had just witnessed, unable to put the words in her mouth. She just blankly stared at the rest of her team, silently demanding an explanation for what she just witnessed.

"It's a long story..." Yang replied, rubbing the back of her head as she tilted it slightly. "But never mind about those morons, where have you been?"

Blake visibly faltered slightly as a nervous frown appeared on her face. She looked at what little of her skin could be seen and saw that the cuts she had received were nearly healed, though she was confident a majority of her wounds would scar. The others appeared to notice the sudden mood change and the care-free smiles were replaced almost immediately.

"We're sorry Blake, we didn't know about..." Weiss managed to say, though she couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence.

"It's okay, you didn't know..." Blake quietly replied, earning a quick sigh from the others. She looked around for her precious weapon, only to find it was nowhere in sight. "Guys...where's Gambol Shroud?" Blake asked. Her mind raced franticly, had she dropped it when she was fleeing? She didn't even remember carrying it when she appeared in the city!

"Your weapons fine, it's in the armoury." Ruby reassured, earning a sigh of relief from Blake. "We'll take you to it when you're ready to get up."

Blake nodded slightly and let her eyes close. She laid her head back on the pillow and allowed herself to drift off into sleep. She was just as quickly awoken however by the familiar sound of a door hissing open. She sat up immediately as she saw two figures walk into the room. One she recognised as the man who saved her, Washington, though she did not recognise the other figure. They wore armour that was eerily familiar to what the female Space Pirates wore save for a different colour scheme and judging from their build, was also female.

"How are you feeling?" Washington asked, tilting his head slightly as he spoke.

"I'm okay..." Blake replied. She was too tired and worn out to have noticed it earlier, but the guy sounded a lot like Ozpin. A little too much like him.

"That's good to hear," the woman stated, causing Blake to blink in shock. She certainly sounded like Pyrrha, perhaps even looked like her under the helmet. "We need to ask you a few questions about your captors."

"Look, she needs some rest, can't you ask questions later?" Yang asked, her voice dangerously low.

"Look, all we need is some information on the Space Pirates, that's all." Washington replied, raising his hand slightly before continuing. "We just need to ask Blake some about-"

"All right." Blake interrupted, catching everyone present off guard.

"What?" all present asked, looking at Blake with bewilderment and confusion present on their faces and in their body language.

"Those...monsters did things to me. Things no one should have to endure," Blake replied, hesitating slightly as she remembered the things the Pirates did to her. "I'll tell you everything I can."

Washington and the other soldier simply looked at one another before turning to face Blake again.

"Okay then...that's good I guess..." Washington warily replied.

"Your friend is right though, you need some rest." The woman stated, turning to leave the room before continuing. "When you feel like you're ready to talk, meet us in the War Room. Your friends know the way."

The two soldiers then left the room, leaving only Blake, Ruby, Yang and Weiss in the room. After a few seconds of silence, Blake finally turned her head to the rest of her team.

"So...what have you been up to?"

 **00000000**

A few hours after her team told her everything that had happened since their arrival, Blake finally felt as though she had enough strength to get out of bed and have a look around the city. It reminded her somewhat of a combination between Vale and the ruined city she had found after her escape. Also present were the multiple soldiers who's bodies littered the streets of the latter city, though in this case both forces were very much alive. She could also sense a large amount of tension between the two groups, with both forces preferring their own company rather than that of the other faction. From little information her friends had been able to gather, the two faction had been at war until only recently and there was still a lot of hatred between the two.

After retrieving Gambol Shroud from the armoury, Blake was led by the rest of her team to what she believed to be the War Room. She was, however, caught off guard by the large amount of guards present. Apparently, she wasn't the only one.

"Why are all these guards present? The last time we were here there was not even a single soldier?" Ruby asked, tilting her head slightly.

"There were guards here last time you dolt!" Weiss sighed, shaking her head slightly. "It's just that there are a lot more present."

"Why though? What's so important about this place now?" Yang asked, shrugging her shoulders slightly.

"Only one way to find out..." Blake replied, walking towards the entrance with her team-mates close behind.

As they came closer, the two Federal Guards outside the door noticed them immediately and walked forward.

"Halt! No unauthorised personnel are allowed access to the War Room currently!" one of the guards ordered, holding his left hand out in a stopping motion.

"We're not here to cause trouble." Blake reassured, slowly stepping back as the two guards stood no little then a metre from them.

"Then turn around and walk away. Best way not to cause trouble, right?" the second guard said, a woman judging from her smaller frame.

Blake looked around and saw that they were attracting the attention of more then one of the guards. She took notice of how their armour was different to the standard soldiers, even though only slightly. The New Republic soldiers wore the standard uniform only it was bulkier and looked more uniformed than the other soldiers. The Federal Army soldiers armour was also bulkier and had a back-pack attached to it, it was also pure white rather than white and green. Just what was so important about these people?

"We're here to speak with Washington and Carolina, they invited us here." Yang stated, raising her arms slightly. The two guards looked at one another before turning back towards the group.

"I'll contact them, see if their story checks out..." the male Fed said, the female nodding in response. After a brief conversation on the radio, the man turned back to face the group. "All right, story checks out. In you go."

The huntresses looked at one another before entering the building, ascending the stairway that led to the main War Room, taking note of the multiple soldiers present.

"What's with all the beefed up security?" Ruby whispered, leaning closer to the rest of her team-mates.

"No idea, perhaps someone important is here." Weiss replied, though her guess was as good as any.

Eventually, they made their way into the main room and saw Washington, Church and Carolina present with two people they didn't recognise. One from the look of their armour was of the New Republic, but their armour was slightly different, with light blue camouflage instead of green. The other was of the Federal Army, his armour being slightly bulkier around the shoulders and with a gold trim.

"Good, you're here." Carolina said, turning to face the huntresses. All others turned to face the group as they entered the room.

"Ladies, allow us to introduce the leaders of Chorus," Washington announced, gesturing towards the two other soldiers present. "This is General Vanessa Kimball of the New Republic and General Donald Doyle of the Federal Army."

"Ladies, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kimball said, nodding her head slightly as she spoke.

Yang blinked slightly before looking back and forth between Ruby and Kimball, causing Ruby to stare at her in confusion. Maybe it was her mind playing tricks on her, but she sounded kinda like her sister for second. Rather then let her mind linger on the thought, she turned her attention back to the conversation.

"We've heard a lot about you all and I must say, we're both rather impressed." Doyle continued, his hands clasped behind his back.

The huntresses visibly faltered at the sound of his voice. They'd met their fair share of people here that sounded somewhat like people back home, but this guy sounded nearly identical to Torchwick. Everyone present seemed to notice this and looked at each other in confusion.

"Is it something I said?" Doyle asked, clearly confused.

"Not what you said, but more who you sound like..." Ruby replied, causing the General to appear even more confused.

"I would say you'll get used to him...but that clearly isn't the case!" Kimball said, a large amount of hatred in her voice.

"Oh don't start that again..." Doyle retorted, his voice dangerously as the two leaders stared daggers at one another.

"Enough!" Washington barked, causing the two Generals to look towards the Freelancer. "I know you two don't like each other, but if you want to survive this war, you need to start working together!"

The two Generals simply grunted at one another before turning back to the huntresses.

" _Now Blake, we need you to tell us everything you remember. Understood?"_ Church asked, looking up to the faunus as he spoke. Blake simply nodded at the A.I, prompting him to continue. _"All right then, start from the beginning..."_

"It all started about a day or two ago. Back home, me and my friends were tracking down a criminal named Roman Torchwick. We tracked him to an unidentified temple where he was planning to unleash an E.M.P blast through out the city."

"I'm pretty sure it's pronounced EMP..." Washington interrupted, causing all to look at him in slight confusion. "Just...thought you should know..."

"Anyway..." Blake said before continuing. "We managed to stop him, but the resulting explosion transported us here. I was caught in the first blast and I woke up later. Torchwick and the White Fang captured me, before the Space Pirates captured them."

"Who are the White Fang?" Carolina asked, turning to the other huntresses in the group.

"Terrorists, group of freedom fighters that resort to unlawful ways to get what they want." Yang responded, causing Doyle to grunt slightly.

"We're all very familiar with terrorists, aren't we Kimball?" Doyle said, a hint of venom present in his voice.

"What did I just say about getting along!" Washington snapped, causing Doyle to growl slightly. Washington turned back towards Blake and nodded for her to continue.

"They took us to a base hidden in the mountains, lots of guards present, and two of their leaders I think...Locus and Felix." Blake continued. Judging from the shared reaction of everyone present, her judgement was correct. "They then began interrogating me and..." the words caught in Blake's throat as she attempted to recall the events.

"It's all right, you don't have to tell us that if you don't want to..." Kimball reassured, causing Blake to nod before continuing.

"After they were...done questioning me, they tried to kill me but I managed to escape. And I think you're all aware of the rest..." Blake said, looking at the group to see their reaction to her story.

"Do you have any idea where these mountains might be?" Carolina asked, turning to face Blake as she spoke.

"No...but I remember seeing this city when I woke up." Blake replied, her mind going back to the memories of her arrival.

"Are you sure?" Washington asked, leaning forward as he spoke.

"Yeah, do you know where it is?" Blake asked.

"Maybe..." Washington said before he turned his attention to the A.I on the table. "Epsilon, can you get a map up of this area?"

" _On it!"_ Church replied before disappearing. Moments later, a large holographic map of the area appeared on the table, Church appearing next to Carolina soon after. A large section of the map began to pulse red, perhaps indicating a danger zone.

"According to the men that spotted your arrival, there were two pulse beams. One outside the city gates," Washington said, a small white orb appearing near the cities border. "And one here." he continued, another orb appearing outside the pulsating red zone.

"We've lost contact with a lot of squads and drones in that area, you think they might be related?" Kimball asked, observing the map before looking up at Washington.

"Maybe, it would certainly make a lot of sense..." Washington replied before turning to Blake "I know it's a long shot, but do you recognise any of this terrain?"

Blake looked over the map, understanding almost immediately how much of a long shot it was. The map was basic in design, the majority of her analysis being nothing more but pure guessing. But one of the mountain clusters did look familiar, and she saw the ruined city nearby.

"That cluster there," Blake said, pointing to the mountain cluster which she now realised was in the centre of the pulsating red area. "I'm confident that's the place."

"Are you sure?" Carolina asked, taking a step forward as she spoke. Blake nodded in response, causing the group to look at one another in realisation.

"I think we have a major opportunity here." Carolina stated, leaning on the table as she spoke.

" _If by opportunity you mean a chance to capture another outpost AND potentially kill Locus and Felix, then I think you're right."_ Church replied, causing Carolina to nod in agreement.

"I can gather a small force from the New Republic to accompany you, led by my best soldiers." Kimball stated, stepping forward slightly as she spoke.

"As can the Federal Army, it won't take long I can assure you." Doyle said, stepping forward as well.

"Great," Washington replied as he turned his attention to the two Generals. "We'll gather a task force so we can-"

"We're coming too!" Ruby announced, nearly everyone in the room save for Blake having forgotten the other huntresses were present.

"What?" Washington asked, clearly taken back by the sudden volunteering.

"We're coming with you!" Yang repeated, stepping forward along with Weiss.

" _Look, you want payback for Blake, we get it!"_ Church stated, hoping to perhaps dissuade the huntresses choice.

"It's not just that," Ruby replied, catching even Church off guard. "These...Pirates or whoever they are, are bad people. They go around hurting and killing the innocent, and it's our job to protect the innocent. And if that means we go with you to this temple place, then so be it."

Everyone present merely looked at one another in surprise at the small speech Ruby just gave.

"I guess there's no stopping you, is there?" Carolina finally asked, tilting her head as she awaited a response.

The four huntresses shook their heads causing Carolina to let a reluctant sigh.

"Fine, you can join us." Carolina said, before pointing at the four huntresses. "But be aware that we can't guarantee your safety, is that understood?"

Ruby turned to the rest of her team, determined grins on their faces.

"Don't worry, I think we got this..."

 **00000000**

 **The big climax is just on the horizon, people. Until then, stay tuned for updates on my stories. Liked it? Don't forget to review and if you have any questions, feel free to leave it either in your review or PM me.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	12. Firefight!

**Hello again and welcome to the next chapter of the Chorus Chronicle. Not really any questions more just general reviews so no question answering today. I will however, say this little announcement. Next week there will be no update on any of my stories. The reason for this is because it's Christmas and I will be spending the weekend with the rest of my family. If I can, I will try and get updates out throughout the following two weeks but I wouldn't place any hope in that thought. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 12- Firefight!**

 **Unidentified Alien Temple**

The temple which served as one of Charon's many forward command posts was in complete chaos. Space Pirates and White Fang were rushing around like headless chickens, readying themselves for a coming battle. They'd lost contact with one of their security towers and were losing video feeds and motion sensors left and right. Already, defences were being brought out to combat whatever was coming. Turrets were being placed in strategic positions, snipers hovering over choke-points, Warthogs and even a Scorpion were in play, mines and other traps were positioned around the many entrances whilst others placed sandbags to act as cover spots for their own forces. A few Space Pirates had been positioned inside the temple itself, ensuring that no-one got in or out. Unknown to the White Fang, the reason for this was that the Pirates were preparing for their own evacuation, planning on leaving the terrorists to die should things go sideways.

At the north gate, a pair of Pirates stood guard, making sure that enemy forces didn't make their way through. None paid much attention to the pair who themselves were taking their job less then seriously, only gazing out from time to time.

"Movement, 2 o'clock!" One of the Pirates whispered, raising his Binary Rifle as he scanned the nearby foliage.

"Where is it?" the second enquired, having seen no movement whatsoever.

"I'm sure I saw something but now..." the Pirate began, pausing as his eye caught something out of the ordinary. "Wait, what's that?"

The second Pirate raised his own Binary Rifle as he scanned the forest, his eyes catching on something that seemed oddly familiar.

"I don't know...looks kinda like a-"

The Pirate never finished his sentence as a soft whooshing noise was heard, followed by a small ping as a bullet hit his head, his visor cracking as he slowly slumped forward, his body toppling over the barrier. The other Pirate stood back in shock before he quickly began looking around for the assailant.

"What the-"

Another bullet came flying, hitting the other Pirate in the head, causing him to spin rapidly as his body tumbled to the floor. In the foliage, Carolina lowered her Silenced Sniper rifle as she swapped it for a more comfortable weapon, the rifle turning tan and green to match her adaptive camouflage. She wasn't a proper marksman like North or Wyoming, but she was still damn good with one.

" _Really Carolina? Spotted by some guards?"_ Church jokingly chastised as he let out a sarcastic titter.

"Now isn't the time for chastising Epsilon..." Carolina whispered as she slowly made her way to the gate, staying close to the forest edge. "Is security down yet?"

" _Almost, just a few firewalls and they'll be pretty much blind AND deaf..."_ Church replied as he continued on disarming the security systems. _"And...done! You should be good now."_

Carolina nodded as she deactivated her adaptive camouflage and moved towards the fallen body outside the gate, searching for any extra ammo and grenades.

" _Just scanned this guys corpse, he has an access code to enter the compound, sending it to your HUD now."_ Church stated, seconds later a sequence of numbers appearing on her visor.

"Come in Wash, we have our ticket in! Is everyone in position? Over." Carolina asked over the radio as she pulled a grenade out and tightened her grip on the small explosive.

" _We're all ready! Waiting on your signal Carolina, over!"_ Washington replied over the radio, an assortment of shuffling and general preperation heard in the background.

"Copy that, everyone on my mark!" Carolina ordered as Church readied himself for opening the door. "Three...two..."

 **00000000**

The gathered Pirates and White Fang continued with preparations of their defence, hurrying around carrying boxes and weapons. Suddenly, the north gate began to slowly open, causing all in the courtyard to stop in their tracks and gawk at the open gate.

"Some of ours?" a White Fang questioned, turning to face the others around him.

"Can't be! We aren't expecting reinforcements!" A Space Pirate countered, raising his weapon slightly as he slowly stepped forward.

"You two, check it out!" one of the Pirates ordered, the Pirate and White Fang walking forward with weapons raised, making sure not to stray to far forward and trigger the booby traps planted. Both scanned the open gate before the White Fangs eyes gazed to the top of the gate.

"Err, where are the guards?" The White Fang questioned, causing the Pirate beside him to gaze up as well. Almost immediately, a small green ball entered their field of vision as it landed in front of them.

"Grenade! Get Down!" the Pirate shouted as he started to run back to the safety of the group. The grenade detonated almost immediately, killing both the Pirate and the White Fang as well as prematurely detonating the mines and other traps. Moments later, Feds and New Republic soldiers charged through, led by both the Blood Gulch Crew and Team RWBY.

"What are you idiots waiting for? Shoot them dammit!" one of the Pirates shouted, having recovered from the initial shock and was now firing at the soldiers. The others soon followed suit, and began to gun down the advancing soldiers.

"For our ancestor's ancestors! Charge!" Sarge shouted as he fired a round from his shotgun at an advancing White Fang.

Team RWBY were a blur as they advanced upon the White Fang and Space Pirates. Ruby swung Crescent Rose at an advancing team of White Fang, sending them flying back as they screamed in surprise. Weiss laid a Fire Glyph under a group of Pirates, the glyph detonating almost immediately and knocking the Pirates into the air and on their backs. Blake swung forward with Gambol Shroud, the katana sending an advancing Pirate flying back into her comrades and causing a domino effect. Yang was swinging her fists left and right, sending anyone who was dumb or brave enough to get close to her flying back. The huntresses stuck close to Carolina and Washington who managed to best anyone who got close to them with a combination of marksmanship and close quarter combat. Ruby turned to see how the rest of the Blood Gulch crew were doing, and was surprised by how well they were doing.

Sarge, Grif and Simmons had already commandeered a Warthog and were mowing down anyone who got in their way. Lopez stood in the middle of the fray, his own body being his weapon whilst Donut stayed in the back with a group of grenadiers, throwing grenades at the enemy that detonated on the other side of the compound. Tucker was weaving his way through the Pirates, his Energy Sword easily cutting through the metal and flesh whilst Caboose was continuously shooting anyone who got in front of him, Freckles confirming the kills almost non-stop. By now, the combined Fed and Republican attack party had milled into the temple and were now splitting off to complete their respective objectives. Team RWBY were now taking cover behind a row of sandbags alongside the ex-Freelancers, who occasionally popped out of cover to take pot-shots at the enemy forces.

"All right ladies, listen up!" Carolina shouted over the gunfire, Team RWBY turning their attention to her. "Your job is to get inside the temple and stop whatever the Pirates are planning! We'll join you when we can, but the heavy lifting is your responsibility! Is that clear?"

Team RWBY nodded their heads in response, determination on their faces.

"Good to hear! We'll give you some cover fire!" Washington said, turning slightly before continuing to fire at the enemy forces.

Team RWBY rushed forward, with Carolina and Washington staying true to their word and providing the Huntresses with cover fire. The group made their way through the enemy forces, knocking down White Fang and Pirates where they could. Their attention was then caught by a Federal soldier who was hiding behind a building with the rest of his squad, waving them over.

"Over here!" the Fed shouted as he continued to wave them over. Team RWBY then made their way to the squad, ducking under stray bullets once in a while.

"What is it?" Yang asked, looking around to ensure that no Pirates would try and flank them.

"Our objective was to take over this bunker, but me and my men are being pinned by turret fire. If you can take them out we can offer you some fire support!" the Fed quickly replied as a member of his squad fired a few pot-shots from his cover, only for a stray bullet to hit his shoulder, causing him cry in pain before a medic went to tend to his injury.

"Don't worry! I got this!" Ruby quickly replied before she zoomed out of sight.

Ruby dashed through both enemies and allies, making sure to trip up any Pirates or White Fang along the way. She continued to dash through before she spotted her opportunity. One White Fang and two Space Pirates were manning the turrets, repeatedly firing at the cover being used by the Fed squad and her friends. She switched Crescent Rose into its Sniper form and lined up the shot, making sure the group was perfectly aligned with one another. She applied pressure to the trigger before firing. The round pierced the legs of the group, causing them to fall over in pain as they clutched their leg before they were mown down by the now advancing Fed squad. Ruby rejoined the squad and her friends, the leader stopping outside the bunker as the rest of his group filed in.

"Thanks for the assist. We'll give you supporting fire where we can." the Fed replied, giving a small salute before he joined the rest of his men inside.

Team RWBY nodded in acknowledgement before they continued onward, now supported with fire by the Fed squad. As they turned another corner, they came across a New Republic squad gunning down a group of White Fang and Pirates. As the two teams continued to fire at one another, one of the Pirates was quickly killed, leaving only one Pirate and a White Fang left.

"Dammit! We're losing too many, fall back!" the Pirate ordered, sprinting around a corner followed by the White Fang.

"They're on the run boys, lets finish them while they're down!" the Republican squad leader shouted, followed by a large cheer from the rest of her squad.

"All right chums, lets do this!" one overly eager soldier shouted, sprinting past his squad mates. "LEEEEEEEEEEEEEROY JENKINS!"

Almost immediately after turning the corner, the soldier was shot by a hidden sniper, his body disintegrating as he crumpled to the floor.

"Sniper! Stay in cover!" the squad leader shouted, her heels grinding to a halt as the rest of her squad stopped behind her.

"God dammit Leeroy..." one of the squad members sighed, shaking his head in shame.

"He was really looking forward to that chicken after the battle..." another replied, causing the rest of the squad to grunt in agreement.

"You four, would it be a little too much to ask for your help?" the squad leader asked, pointing to Team RWBY.

"Don't worry," Yang replied, cracking her knuckles in anticipation. "I got this."

Yang immediately turned heel and ran around the snipers position, ignoring the battle around her. So far the sniper had failed to spot her, and she would like it to stay that way. She quickly took cover behind a barrier as she spied the sniper, who was taking cover himself and firing pot-shots whenever he could. A primal yell caught her attention as a White Fang charged her, hoping to tackle her to the ground. As the White Fang was nearly upon her, Yang dropped to the floor and kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to fall forward with a surprised yelp. As he began to rise, Yang grabbed his head and slammed it into the barrier, causing a large indentation as the White Fang slumped to the floor.

Yang then turned back to the sniper who was reloading a fresh clip into the Binary Rifle, grateful that he hadn't noticed him. Yang then charged forward, raising a fist to bring down on the Pirate. The Pirate noticed at the last second, jumping back in surprise as the blow hit his right leg, an audible snap resounding soon after. The Pirate clutched his leg as he screamed in pain, attempting to nurse the injury.

"You broke my leg you bitch! What is wrong with you?!" the Pirate continued to scream as he huddled over in pain before Yang delivered a kick to his gut, sending the Pirate into a wall and knocking him out.

Yang let out a loud whistle to signal the Republican squad. Soon after, the Republican squad sprinted out, followed closely by the rest of Team RWBY. Yang jumped down from the snipers nest and rejoined the rest of her friends.

"Thanks for the assist ladies, I'll see you on the other side!" the leader shouted before she went after the rest of her squad.

"Come on, the temple isn't far now!" Blake shouted, rushing forward followed closely by the rest of her friend as the battle raged on around them.

 **00000000**

A Republican soldier continued to fire at both Space Pirates and White Fang from the safety of his cover, popping out only from time to time and far to quick for anyone to get a clean shot on him. So far, things were going well for him.

"Incoming!"

The Republican turned around in confusion as a Fed soldier slid next to him, banging his head as he failed to stop in time.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" the Republican shouted, causing the Fed to look up at him.

"What?" the Fed asked, clearly not understanding what the Republican was asking.

"This is my cover! Go find your own!"

"What? No! We can share!" the Fed pleaded, hoping to come to a compromise. The Republican let out a humourless laugh as he slowly began to rise, towering over the Fed.

"Over my dead body!"

Suddenly, a bolt of plasma whizzed over his head as a sniper narrowly missed him, causing the Republican to yelp in surprise as he quickly ducked back under his cover.

"Okay, we can share!" the Republican shouted, causing the Fed to silently cheer.

"Found you!" a Pirate shouted as he approached the two soldiers who screamed in surprise.

"Ah crap! He found us!" the Fed cried as he slowly began to back away from the Pirate.

"No shit Sherlock..." the Republican muttered as he also began to edge backwards.

"My name is Greg, thank you!" the Fed corrected, causing the Republican to sigh in defeat.

"I'm going to enjoy this..." The Pirate laughed as the Suppressor in his hands began to buzz to life.

"Eat lead, dirtbag!"

The Pirate let out a surprised grunt as he turned to the source of the noise, when suddenly a Warthog came zooming past, colliding with the Pirate and sending his broken body into the dirt.

"Dammit Grif! That was my kill!" Sarge shouted as the Warthog continued to zoom around, knocking over anyone who got too close. The two soldiers continued to watch in surprise as the Warthog continued to mow down anyone and everyone.

"Not gonna lie...but a little pee came out..." the Fed quietly said, causing the Republican to stare somewhat confused and disgusted at the Fed.

 **00000000**

Team RWBY continued to make their way through the Pirates and White Fang as they slowly began approaching the temple entrance.

"Ladies, over here!" an authoritative voice shouted.

Team RWBY all turned and saw a group of both Federal and Republican soldiers waving them over. The huntresses made their way to the group who were positioned near the temple entrance and looked as though they had just been through hell and back. The Fed soldiers were wearing the standard uniform worn by the rest of the army whilst the Republican soldiers looked slightly different. Whilst the armour was the same in design and primary colour, the camouflage pattern ranged from blue, maroon, orange and aqua.

"You're the insertion team, correct?" the tan and blue soldier asked, seemingly the leader of the squad.

"Err, yeah..." Ruby replied, though it sounded like she was asking a question rather then answering it.

"Lieutenant John Andersmith, at your service!" the blue soldier replied, giving a quick salute as he spoke. "We're your escort assigned by Kimball herself to make sure you get inside in one piece."

"Thanks...I guess." Yang replied, shrugging her shoulders slightly. "How do we get inside?"

"There's a door on the east side, that's our way in!" Jensen replied, at least that's what everyone thought she said considering her heavy lisp.

"Doesn't seem too hard..." Weiss said, causing the other huntresses to nod in agreement.

"The problem is that there's a Scorpion outside, none of us can get past it." Bitters countered, causing Yang to let out a small laugh.

"Are you serious? Big battle raging around you and you're afraid of a little bug?" Yang laughed.

Immediately, a large explosion was heard as a squad of Federal soldiers were obliterated. The huntresses peeped around the corner to see a large tank outside the main door with a White Fang positioned in the mini turret, gunning down anyone who got too close.

"Feel like laughing now?" Bitters asked, receiving no answer from the huntress.

"How the hell do we get pass that?" Yang finally asked, turning to her friends.

"I have an idea..." Ruby shouted before rushing forward to face the Scorpion.

"Ruby! Wait!" Yang shouted as she rushed forward, followed by Weiss and Blake.

"Wait, what do we do!?" Palomo asked, clearly confused.

"This way! We'll offer cover fire!" Smith replied, rushing to the right followed by the rest of the escort team.

Ruby rushed ahead as the Scorpion's gunner turned to face her, adjusting the turret to face her.

"Got one!" the White Fang shouted as he began to unleash a barrage of bullets at Ruby, the Pirate driver adjusting the tank so the gunner could continue firing. Yang, Blake and Weiss stopped in their tracks as they saw the gargantuan tank continue to pursue Ruby, its back facing them.

"Look, that vent!" Blake shouted, pointing at a small vent on the back of the Scorpion. "That has to be its weak spot! We take that out, we take the tank out!"

"Right, shouldn't be too hard!" Yang replied as she raised her fists in anticipation.

Almost immediately the top of the tank turned around to face the three huntresses, the barrel aimed directly at them.

"You just had to open your mouth..." Weiss murmured, Yang letting out a sheepish giggle in response.

Ruby continued to dash around as the gunner continued to fire at her, the bullets now getting closer and closer to hitting their mark.

"Come on guys! Where are you?" Ruby shouted as she continued to sprint.

An explosion was her swift answer as the tank began to fire upon her friends, the driver changing position to now focus on them.

"What the fuck are you doing? I can't hit the girl!" the gunner shouted, banging on what was presumably the cockpit.

Ruby spotted the small vent shaft at the back, it's weak spot revealed to her.

'Time to improvise then…' Ruby thought to herself as she charged the back of the tank, Crescent Rose in its Scythe form. With a single slash, Ruby tore the vent cover off and dealt a large amount of damage to whatever was being covered, if the flames and smoke were anything to go by.

"What the..." the gunner said as he began to notice the large amount of flames and smoke spurting out the back. "You gotta be kidding me! Son of a-"

The White Fang was cut off as the Scorpion detonated, killing both the driver and the gunner. Ruby shielded her eyes as the tank erupted into flames before she was joined by Yang, Weiss and Blake.

"Next time you say you have a plan, tell us it before initiating it!" Yang said, gasping for breath as she lightly punched Ruby's arm.

"Sorry..." Ruby nervously laughed as she rubbed her head. The group was then joined by their escort team, who looked impressed to say the least.

"Scorpions down, Jensen, get to work on that door!" Smith ordered, pointing to Jensen as the rest of the escort looked around to ensure there were no nearby Pirates.

"On it!" Jensen replied as she knelt in front of the door and began tinkering with the controls.

 **00000000**

The Space Pirates continued to guard the main corridor of the Temple as the battle raged on around them. Whilst the rest of the force were fighting to keep the armies of Chorus out, they were ensuring that no one got into of the temple. An evacuation was well under way, and the guards were making sure no White Fang could get inside.

"Say, I've been wondering..." one of the Pirates said, turning to face one of his fellow guards.

"What?" the other Pirate asked, turning to face the other Pirate.

"When we're up against just regular grunts, our aiming is spot on..." the Pirate said, pausing to let the other Pirate take in the information.

"Yeah?"

"But when we go up against the 'important guys', we suddenly suffer from stormtrooper syndrome...what's up with that?"

"Oh, you're not suffering from stormtrooper syndrome, it's something else." the Pirate replied, having had this conversation many times in the past.

"Basic humanity?" the Pirate asked, tilting his head slightly.

"No, it's not that."

"Reduced weapon accuracy?" a third Pirate asked, suddenly becoming interested in the conversation.

"Not that either."

"Then what?" the first Pirate asked.

"It's a little thing called-"

The Pirate was interrupted by the sound of an explosion, the door violently vibrating in unison. All the guards slowly looked at one another before raising their weapons. Another blast resounded around them as the door was blown off its frame, flattening two of the five Pirates in the process. As the other three Pirates recovered from the sudden carnage, they were immediately mowed down by gunfire. The lieutenants and Fed soldiers entered the hallway, weapons raised and ready to fire at any given moment.

"Clear!" one of the Feds shouted, glancing behind him before returning his attention to in front of him. Moments later, Team RWBY entered the room, weapons at the ready.

"We'll stay here and guard the entrance," Smith said, turning to face the huntresses. "Make sure no one goes up your rear."

"Hey-chicka-bump-bump!" Palomo quickly shouted, causing everyone to look at him questioningly. "Err, that's the joke right?"

"God dammit Palomo!" Tucker shouted from seemingly across the battlefield.

"Come on, we need to keep moving!" Blake shouted, snapping the rest of her team out of their confusion.

The group continued forward, surprisingly encountering zero resistance. They continued down the hallway until they came across a fork in the corridor, one path leading straight forward whilst the other two went left and right respectively.

"Which way is it?" Weiss asked, turning to face each individual corridor.

"We'll have to split up, it's the only way to cover this area quickly." Ruby reluctantly said, not wanting to be separated from her friends yet again.

"You sure sis?" Yang asked, concern present in her voice. Ruby slowly nodded, though it was clear she wasn't happy about it. And so they decided amongst themselves who would go where. Weiss would take the left corridor, Ruby would take the right whilst Blake and Yang would continue down the main corridor. The two huntresses continued to walk onwards, encountering no further resistance. The pair then came across a door, the metal guard opening as it detected them on its sensors.

"Blake! Look out!"

Yang quickly tackled Blake to the floor as a shotgun round resounded above her. Blake looked up to see multiple crates stacked up like a barricade, and behind it was the last person Blake wanted to see.

"Locus..." Blake seethed as she and Yang quickly got up and hid behind a crate, another shotgun blast hitting the floor where they once was.

"Wait...you know this guy?" Yang quickly asked, loading Ember Cilica with a fresh belt of shotgun shells.

"Unfortunately yes." Blake quickly responded, peering around the corner of her cover as Locus loaded a fresh round into his weapons chamber.

"I'll cover you Blake, I got this asshole!" Yang said, patting Blake on the shoulder. Blake quickly glanced around the corner of her cover, Locus positioned on the right side of the cover.

"Okay, but be careful! This guy doesn't take prisoners!" Blake whispered, earning a mischievous grin from Yang.

Seconds later, Yang broke cover and fired some of her rounds at Locus, causing the mercenary to duck for cover. Blake took this as her chance and sprinted over to the other end of the corridor. Locus was too pre-occupied with Yang to even register Blake until it was too late. Blake continued to run as the door behind her closed, the sounds of combat close behind her.

She continued to sprint through the halls, the sound of rushing electricity all around her. She passed through a door and was shocked at what she saw. She was inside what appeared to be the main core of the temple, Torchwick tinkering with it at its base with a large device next to him. Torchwick turned around, the surprised look on his face turning into a malicious grin as he held Melodic Cudgel up in a fighting stance.

"Hey there kit cat, ready for round two?" Torchwick asked, the malicious grin still present.

"Something like that..." Blake seethed, Gambol Shroud at the ready. Torchwick let out a hollow laugh as he placed Melodic Cudgel on the floor.

"Under normal circumstances, I would be happy to accommodate you but sadly I have things to do." Torchwick replied as he gestured to the pillar behind him. "But don't worry, my new friends introduced me to a new pet and he's just DYING to meet you!"

Torchwick tapped Melodic Cudgel on the floor, the tapping resonating around the room. Immediately, a door on the opposite side of the room began to open, the sound of heavy footprints close behind it. Suddenly, a large robot bigger than a Ursa Major lumbered through the doorway. It was similar in design to an Atlesian Paladin but slightly smaller and with a chain gun on its right arm and a rocket launcher on its left arm. The robot continued to walk and stopped next to Torchwick, its large head turning to face Blake.

" **ENEMY SOLDIER DETECTED!"** the robot announced, turning the rest of its body to face Blake.

"Allow me to introduce you to the Mantis Class Assault Droid!" Torchwick smugly stated as Blake continued to look in horror at the robot. "Sic her boy!" Torchwick ordered, letting out a sinister laugh as he spoke. The Mantis rose to a greater height as the two weapons either side of its body began to power up.

" **FIRING MAIN CANNON!"**

 **00000000**

 **Oh dear, what will happen next? Find out next time! As always, reviews are appreciated and constructive criticism is always welcome. Any questions? Leave them in your review or PM me.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	13. The Heiress and the Pirate

**Why hello there my faithful viewers, it's that time of the week again. I hope you all enjoyed Christmas as much as I did and what better way to start off the year then with another chapter of the Chorus Chronicle. Just a heads up, this chapter is no doubt noticeably shorter than previous chapters. I had a bit of a decision to make when it came to the structure of the next three chapters and it was either have it as one big chapter or three shorter chapters. You'll understand what I'm on about soon. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 13- The Heiress and the Pirate**

Weiss continued to sprint down the hallway, making short work of any defences that got in her way. As she turned yet another corner, she was greeted by a hail of machine gun fire. She skidded along the floor, coming to an abrupt stop behind a few ammo crates. As soon as she was in cover, the firing stopped. Yet another set of automatic turrets with motion sensors it would seem, but why? As a main stronghold, she expected it to be heavily defended. This was true for the outside, yet the inside was noticeably barren of any defence. The only resistance she had encountered so far were the guards at the main gates and automatic turrets. Were they that ill prepared or did they just not care for the temple?

Taking a moment to calm herself, she analysed the situation playing in her mind. From what little she saw when diving for cover, there were only two turrets with one either side of the corridor. Both were bunkered down behind a guard which protected them from direct fire but also restricted movement. They could only turn so far before they were halted by their own defence. Something that could be used to her advantage. She checked Myrtenaster's chamber to ensure she could perform the manoeuvre, the chamber filled with multiple Dust types. She continued to check the chamber until a vial of yellow 'haste' dust was slotted into the barrel. There was only a short amount left, so she had only one shot.

She placed the glyph to her left, the clockwork pattern lighting up almost immediately. Moments later, she broke cover, the turrets firing on her position almost instantly. Her aura protected her from the brunt of the assault, but who knew how long that would last. Upon landing on the yellow glyph, she darted forward, too fast for the turrets to even pick her up. She stopped, the effects of the glyph wearing off between the two turrets that remained docile beside her. She took a deep breath as she glanced between the two turrets. She was quick to pierce their electronic targeting systems, rendering them useless. If anyone else were to follow her, she'd rather not have them turned into paste by the twin turrets.

She continued to traverse the hallways, encountering even fewer resistance. She had initially been against the idea of splitting up yet again, but had not voiced her concern. But if they had encountered even fewer resistance then she had, she had no reason to worry. As she turned yet another corner, she was greeted by multiple crates scattered throughout the hallway which judging from the writing on them contained experimental weaponry. On the right wall was an entrance that led into another corridor that appeared to descend into the ground. Then she heard footsteps, two of them, and heavy ones at that. She immediately ducked behind one of the crates and peered around the corner.

There were two Pirates, the first two she had actually seen since entering the complex. One was dressed in what appeared to be a custom made version of the standard uniform the Pirates wore, with what appeared to be a breathing apparatus attached. A pilot perhaps? The other wore the standard Pirate armour but was slightly taller and had multiple white stripes here and there, no doubt a higher ranking soldier, if these miscreants had a ranking system.

"You know the drill, get down to the Pelican and prep for lift off. A group is already down there waiting for us." the Pirate with white stripes ordered, pointing to the small opening in the wall.

"What about the others?" the other Pirate asked, slightly turning to face his superior officer.

"We wait for Locus and Felix but no one else, the others are aware of the plan." white stripes replied, earning a simple nod in return.

"What about these weapons? Should we take them too?" the Pirate asked, causing Weiss to suddenly freeze.

"No, all the essential equipment is down waiting for us. Besides, plenty more where this came from..." white stripes said, causing the Pirate to grunt in acknowledgement before both turned to walk away.

Weiss let out a sigh of relief, but was quick to cover her mouth as soon as she heard both footsteps stop. Had she been too loud? Had they heard her?

"What was that?" the Pirate asked.

Damn.

"I don't know..." white stripes replied, cautiously walking forward. Well, they would find her sooner or later, no point in delaying the inevitable.

She swiftly left her hiding place, Myrtenaster at the ready, and sent a hateful gaze towards the two Pirates. Both Pirates who had until previously been taking a combat position, lowered their stances in surprise, white stripes even having the audacity to grunt in amusement at the sight before him.

"Get to the ship. I'll be right with you, just gotta take out the trash..." white stripes finally said, not even turning to face the other Pirate.

"You got it Jackson." the Pirate replied, turning down the corridor that led to whatever ship was down there.

Weiss set her gaze on to the one called Jackson, Myrtenaster pointed at his chest. Jackson stood back slightly, his hands tensing as they reached for the pistol on his right thigh.

"So, those idiots resorted to sending little girls after us now?" Jackson asked, tilting his head only slightly as his hand went ever closer to the pistol.

"Call me little girl again, and you'll regret it!" Weiss snarled, holding Myrtenaster higher, the tip of the rapier pointed at his throat.

"So the little fish thinks it's a shark?" Jackson laughed, the lack of humour clearly present. "Let's see if your bark is worse then your bite..."

Instantly, Jackson brought his pistol up and fired multiple shots at Weiss. Weiss weaved through the bullets effortlessly and swiped at Jackson, intent on hitting the weaker less armoured parts of his body. Jackson was quick to sidestep the blow and continued firing, only stopping to reload the pistol.

As Weiss continued to dodge and parry the pistol shots, she glanced at the corridor behind Jackson. This was only delaying her, Jackson wasn't a high priority target, the temple core was why she was here. If she could disarm him and then get past him, she could be on her way. As Jackson loaded a fresh clip into his pistol, Weiss swung Myrtenaster in an upward arc, the tip of the blade slicing through the black under-suit and cutting his wrist, causing him to wince in pain as he dropped the pistol.

"Oh you're gonna pay for that..." Jackson seethed as he drew a knife and lunged for Weiss. "Come here!"

Weiss quickly parried the blow and thrust both blades forward, sending them both spiralling into the air. Weiss then quickly slid between Jacksons legs and kicked him over, causing him to topple over with an audible grunt as Weiss caught Myrtenaster by the hilt, the knife following soon after. Weiss smirked to herself as Jackson fumbled about on the floor in an attempt to get up. With no time to waste, Weiss quickly ran forward with the intent of putting as much distance between her and Jackson. As soon as she turned the corner she would be-

 _FWOOSH!_

Weiss halted at the sudden noise as she felt something cold and metal clasp onto the back of her neck. She turned and saw Jackson kneeling on the floor with a device that looked eerily like a pistol in his hand. As she stared at the pistol, she noticed something was protruding out of it...a wire of some form that trailed along the floor up to-

"Oh no..." Weiss whispered as the sudden realisation hit her head on like a truck.

"Get! Over! Here!" Jackson seethed as he clicked a button on the barrel of the pistol.

Weiss was suddenly pulled back by a huge tug that then proceeded to drag her across the floor. Weiss was continued to be dragged along until she skidded to a stop, the clamp on the back of her neck detaching itself. Weiss slowly rose, but was greeted by a metal foot to her chest which sent her flying back into a nearby crate, toppling it over and spilling its contents over the floor. She looked around for Myrtenaster, but found it had slipped from her grasp when she had been kicked and was now behind Jackson.

"You're good, I'll give you that!" Jackson seethed, taking a few deep breaths as he kicked Myrtenaster further away from him and retrieved his knife. "But this ends now!"

Weiss looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon. Her hands instantly went to one of the weapons that had spilled out from the crate she had hit, a long barrelled pistol with golden highlights dancing around it. The weapon felt uncomfortable and not to mention heavy in her hands as she pointed it at Jackson who seemed un phased by the weapon, as if he could sense the uneasiness coming off her.

"Don't panic, you can do this!" Weiss whispered to herself as she continued aiming the weapon at Jackson who was slowly approaching but gaining speed by the second. She pulled the trigger, yet nothing happened. She continued to pull yet still nothing. She checked the chamber of the weapon to see if it was full yet only saw a battery that glowed the same colour as the rest of the weapon.

"That's the problem with experimental weaponry Princess..." Jackson sneered as he came ever closer to Weiss. "Half of it doesn't work..."

Weiss continued to scan the weapon for any fault that was causing it not to fire. She looked at the back of the weapon and her eyes scanned a small switch that read the words 'safety: on'. She quickly fiddled with the switch, twisting it, turning it and pressing it until the weapon hummed to life and the switch read 'safety: off'.

Unintentionally squeezing the trigger, the weapon fired, the recoil sending Weiss staggering backwards as Jackson ducked, the volatile bolt hitting the ceiling and sending sparks all over the place.

"What the-"

Jackson was cut off as Weiss fired another bolt at his feet, causing him to dance comically as he dodged the bolts of energy. Eventually, Jackson was forced to drop his knife as he ducked for cover behind a stack of crates. Weiss continued to fire on his position until the lights on the weapon died down, indicating it had been used up. Weiss saw this as her opportunity to dash for Myrtenaster and dropped the dead weapon in favour of a more comfortable choice.

She stopped in her tracks however, at the sudden movement behind Jackson's cover. It sounded heavy, heavier than usual. Before she could even begin to theorize what was happening, she got her answer. Jackson burst through the crates carrying what appeared to be an experimental Gatling Gun, the weapon glowing with the same energy as the other experimental weapons the Pirates used.

"Drop dead you stupid bitch!" Jackson seethed as he fired the weapon at Weiss. Quickly dashing forward, Weiss rushed for whatever cover she could, the energy bolts tearing apart the area around her.

The barrage stopped as Weiss heard a loud click emanating from the weapon. Taking it as a sign that the weapon was out, she turned only to find Jackson was not phased by the sudden turn of events. Jackson raised the weapon slightly and pulled the trigger again, a large bolt of energy shooting out and arcing towards her. Weiss quickly rolled to the side as the bolt hit the space she had just been standing, obliterating it immediately.

"It has a mortar!? That's not fair!" Weiss screeched as she dodged yet another blast, slowly edging towards Myrtenaster.

"Life ain't fair, deal with it!" Jackson sneered as he fired yet another shot at Weiss, the heiress only just dodging the blast.

Weiss focused her attention back at regaining Myrtenaster. If she could get a hold of the weapon then she had a fighting chance of beating Jackson. Another bolt was fired at Weiss who easily dodged the shot and grabbed Myrtenaster. Now she could finish this.

Weiss charged forward, Jackson firing another shot which was easily dodged by the Heiress. Realising that any attempt to shoot would risk killing him as well, Jackson clicked a button on the handle of the weapon, a large energy bayonet appearing on the tip of the barrel.

"Seriously?!" Weiss shrieked as Jackson casually shrugged his shoulders in response. Weiss sighed as she continued with her plan. The bayonet wouldn't affect her strategy, it was just something to look out for.

Weiss charged Jackson who jabbed forward with the weapon, Weiss barely dodging the blow. Jackson then swung the weapon to the left, Weiss sidestepping the swing, followed immediately by an uppercut with the intent of hitting her in the gut with the butt of the weapon and bring the bayoneted end down on her. Weiss dodged both blows and manoeuvred behind Jackson and struck him in the knee with Myrtenaster, causing him to howl in pain and drop the weapon.

Weiss then delivered a kick to Jackson's back, sending him toppling forward where he crashed into a pile of crates. Weiss waited for any sign of movement from Jackson, the only sign he was still alive being his groaning. He was down but for how long Weiss was unsure. She turned to proceed while she still could but a sudden pain in her right leg stopped her in her tracks.

She winced as she looked down at leg and saw a long thin cut along her shin. Jackson must have hit her after all, no doubt the adrenalin in her body delaying the pain until now. She was grateful the weapon was energy based, the cut having cauterised. The last thing she needed was to bleed out on the floor.

She staggered forward, the corridor just ahead of her hopefully leading to both the core and her friends. She was almost there, nearly sprinting forward as she-

 _BANG!_

Weiss stopped dead in her tracks as sparks and glass fell from the ceiling, the light in front of her dying out immediately. She turned to see Jackson holding his pistol from earlier, the barrel end smoking and now aimed directly at Weiss.

"Move another step, and you're dead!" Jackson threatened, slowly rising as he took deep breaths.

"I'd like to see you try..." Weiss quietly warned, holding out Myrtenaster slowly.

"Nice try kiddo, but we know all about your aura crap." Jackson laughed without humour before gesturing to her leg with his pistol. "That cut on your leg just signed your death warrant, your magic shield can't help you now!"

Weiss silently cursed, she had forgotten about her aura all together in the heat of the moment. The next shot would kill, and something told her Jackson didn't get far in his line of work by being a bad shot. She had a choice, neither one a good choice either. She could surrender and pray that he was merciful, which she doubted. Or she could make a dash for safety, if it wasn't for her leg, she might have made it as well.

Instead she gritted her teeth and held Myrtenaster higher, causing Jackson to chuckle as he applied pressure to the trigger…

"Get him!" an all too familiar gruff voice shouted.

Both Jackson and Weiss watched in utter shock as Sarge, Simmons and Grif charged the Pirate, who dropped the pistol in pure shock. Sarge was quick to tackle Jackson, sending him tumbling to the floor and proceeded to pummel the downed Pirate followed by Simmons kicking the Pirate in the side whilst Grif simply watched on offering moral support.

"Yeah, good job guys! Hit him in the jugular!" Grif shouted as Sarge and Simmons continued to beat Jackson who screamed in both pain and annoyance.

"What? No, you do it!" Simmons retorted as he continued to lightly kick the Pirate.

"Can't, I'm setting a perimeter by the capsized crates over there." Grif quickly replied, strolling over and casually leaning against the crates as he watched the beat down before him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Weiss asked, finally wrapping her mind around the sight before her.

"We're your support, making sure those no good Space Pirates follow you." Sarge replied, who was now kicking Jackson alongside Simmons.

"Okay..." Weiss quietly said as the two red soldiers continued to kick Jackson, who was now huddled in a ball as he attempted to parry the kicks. Truth be told, she almost felt sorry for Jackson. Almost.

"You go on ahead ma'am, we've got this area secured!" Simmons said, giving a quick salute to Weiss before returning to the task at hand.

Weiss quickly nodded and proceeded to venture further down the corridor, the cut on her leg causing her to limp slightly.

"Dammit Simmons! You kick like a girl!" Sarge snapped, stopping his assault as he turned to face Simmons. Truth be told, Simmons kicks were more like 'taps' than the powerful kicks Sarge was delivering. He hadn't seen kicking this pathetic since Grif and him mistook Tucker for Tex.

"I'm kicking as hard as I can sir!" Simmons replied in a rushed tone as he continued to 'kick' Jackson.

With the two red soldiers distracted, Jackson took it as his chance to get away. First punching Sarge in the stomach followed by punching Simmons in the same area, bringing both red soldiers to their knees. Before the two could fight back, Jackson brought their heads together, sending them spiralling backwards. Jackson turned to run down to the hangar, but a trail of yellow bullets stopped him in his tracks.

"Not so fast, cock-bite!" Grif warned, stepping dangerously close to Jackson as he walked forward. "You forget that I'm the one with the alien weapon dumb-ass!"

"What are you gonna do about it, shoot me?" Jackson asked, stepping closer ever so slightly as he spoke.

"If I can be bothered too, then maybe!" Grif warned as he stepped perhaps a little too close to Jackson.

Before he could react, Jackson brought his good leg up between Grif's legs, kicking him right in the crotch and causing the orange soldier to gasp in pain and drop to the floor as he messaged his crotch.

"What the fuck is it with bad guys and my balls!?" Grif shouted as he rolled around on the floor in intense pain.

Jackson merely sighed in annoyance as he limped forward into the underground hangar bay. He was just glad that at least no-one would hear of this embarrassment…

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 **I'll be honest, that wasn't as short as I was afraid it was going to be… For those of you wondering if I just pulled the underground hangar thing out of my ass, check chapter 3, it's mentioned in the description of the temple. As always, feel free to review and constructive criticism is welcomed. Any questions? Leave in your review and I'll reply in the next chapter. It feels good to back on schedule. I look forward to the new year and the developments that will come with it.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	14. The Cloak

**Hello fellow fan-fic author's! Another week, another chapter! Well first off a question from 'Guest' asking if Sharkface and the Counsellor would appear. No, but a subtle reference will appear hinting them in a later chapter. Also getting VERY close to that 100 favourites mark. Triple digits for the win! Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 14- The Cloak…**

"Blake! Look out!" Yang shouted as she tackled the Faunus to the floor, a shotgun shell flying overhead as they both fell to the ground. Yang looked up to see a man in grey armour with a skull like helmet quickly loading a fresh shell into the rifle.

"Locus..." Blake seethed as the two huntresses dived for cover behind a crate as another blast hit the floor.

"Wait...you know this guy?" Yang asked as she loaded a fresh belt of red shells into Ember Cilica. Her and Ruby met that dick with the orange stripes at New Lincoln but she didn't think that there could be two of them.

"Unfortunately yes." Blake replied, peering around the corner as the sound of a fresh shell being loaded was heard.

Then it hit her. This must have been the guy who tried to kill Blake back when she was separated from the group. The guy who nearly killed her friend. Oh boy was she going to have a word with him! And by word she meant break every bone in his body!

"I'll cover you Blake, I got this asshole!" Yang said, patting Blake on the shoulder. The faunus turned, a surprised look in her eyes. She sighed before turning to face Yang again.

"Okay, but be careful! This guy doesn't take prisoners!" Blake warned, with Yangs simple reply being a quick grin.

She quickly broke cover and fired at Locus' position, the explosive shells forcing the Pirate to duck and take small pot-shots from his cover. Blake was quick to dash forward and sprint past the Pirate, leaping over the barricade and sprinting forward. Locus slowly turned as he aimed the shotgun at Blake's head, who didn't even realise the danger she was in.

"Hey bone head!" a voices shouted, causing Locus to turn and stagger back in surprise as he saw Yang lifting one of the crates over her head.

"Take this you Dread Pirate knock off!" Yang shouted, referring to the arch villain in the 'X-Ray and Vav' comic books, as she flung the crate at Locus, who quickly lunged for cover as the crate hit him in his shoulder, causing him to grunt in pain as the crate rolled passed him.

"Nailed it..." Yang smirked as she rushed forward, ready to beat the living shit out of Locus. She quickly leaped over the barricade, turning to face Locus as she was greeted by...nothing?

Yang quickly looked around for any sign of the Pirate, but saw nothing. No sign of any blood, so he wasn't crushed or anything...so where the hell was he?

A cold sensation ran up her spine as she heard what appeared to be skin being ripped off behind her. She quickly turned to see Locus, standing on the crate she had just thrown, materialising out of thin air. Before Yang could even comment, Locus fired a round from his shotgun, Yang lifting her fists in defence as she rolled back, quickly flipping behind the barricade.

"Okay, you can take this bastard!" Yang whispered to herself as she quickly held Ember Cilica up slightly, standing up quickly and aiming for the crate where Locus last was...only to be greeted by nothing yet again.

"Oh c'mon!" Yang yelled in frustration as her eyes darted around, looking for any sign of Locus. As she turned again, she was greeted by an invisible force that hit her in her forehead, followed by a hit to her stomach that caused her to keel over in pain. As she rose upward, she swung forward with Ember Cilica, both thrusts hitting nothing as she continued to swing wildly.

She felt a strong grip around her armpits and was sent swinging backwards, her head hitting the ground as she toppled face first on the floor. As she rose, she saw a blur move rapidly to her right.

With a primal shout, she lunged forward with her right fist, Ember Cilica firing an explosive shell that was quickly dodged. She felt Locus grip her arm before she was kicked in her stomach before he spun her wildly before letting go, causing her to topple over and slide on the floor. As she rose, Locus materialised before her, the shotgun strapped to his back.

"Weak and undisciplined, like the rest of your incompetent friends!" Locus scolded as he reached for the shotgun on his back. "Unfortunate, I expected more from you Yang..."

"Maybe if you stopped doing your disappearing act you'll find I'm more than you can handle..." Yang taunted as she cracked her knuckles together. If her aura could last a few more hits, she could use her semblance to put this dick six feet under.

"We'll see..." Locus calmly replied.

Immediately, he fired a round from his shotgun, Yang easily weaving past the blast. Yang fired a shot aimed at Locus' head, but he simply stepped to the left, letting the shot fly casually past his head. As both combatants closed the gap on one another, Yang thrust forward with her left fist, Locus catching her fist and forcing it to the right, causing Yang to waste her ammo. As Yang grappled with his shotgun, she tugged to to the right, with Locus releasing her wrist as he seemingly fumbled with catching the weapon.

Before she could deliver a blow to the seemingly occupied Pirate, he flipped the shotgun and used it as a bat, hitting Yang in her head and causing her to stumble backwards. Yang quickly attempted to swing forward with her right fist, only for the blow to be block by Locus' left arm, now gripped on the barrel of the shotgun. He then swung forward, with the intent of aiming the barrel at Yang, who simply forced the weapon to her right as Locus wasted multiple shells. She swung forward with her right fist, forcing Locus into a kneeling position as he weaved past the shell.

Locus quickly grabbed her hand and twisted it to the right, causing Yang to hiss in pain as her arm was twisted awkwardly. She opted instead to kick Locus down with her right leg, the power of the kick causing him to loose his grip on her wrist and his shotgun. Using the momentum, Yang threw the shotgun in the air and caught it, aiming the barrel at Locus who crawled back in an attempt to put as much distance as possible between him and Yang.

"Yippee ki yay, mother fucker!" Yang grinned as she aimed the weapon at Locus and pulled the trigger...only to be met with an audible clicking sound. "What the..." Yang muttered as she continued to pull the trigger.

"Six shells, you're out..." Locus calmly stated as he slowly stood, twisting his neck until he heard the bones pop.

Yang quickly raised the shotgun over her leg and thrust it down, the weapon snapping like plastic on her thigh before she flung both ends of the weapon like a boomerang at Locus, who stumbled back with an audible grunt before Yang dashed forward and delivered a kick to his stomach as he went spiralling over the barricade. Yang quickly followed as she jumped over the crates, only to see that the Pirate had vanished yet again.

"How about you come out of the shadows and fight like a man!" Yang shouted. She kept her eyes and ears open for any sign of movement. No matter how soft the noise was, she turned and fired a shot at it. He was playing with her and she knew it.

Then she heard a creaking noise behind the barricade. Without wasting another second, she turned and fired barrage after barrage at the area, pieces of scrap metal and debris flying from the force of the blows.

Without warning, Locus materialised in mid air as he delivered a spinning kick to Yang, causing her to fly back from the force as Locus landed with an audible thud.

Yang slowly rose as she thrust Ember Cilica forward, only to be greeted by an audible click. Growling she ejected the shells and looked to her ammo belt. Only two belts each now, and the explosive shots had been less then useful to her. She quickly flung both standard belts in the air and caught them on her wrists, the weapons loading into the chamber with a satisfying click.

She let out a growl as she sprang forward, Locus eagerly awaiting her as he sprinted forward. Yang swung forward, Locus ducking as he delivered a right hook to her gut which Yang easily dodged. Grabbing his waist, Yang picked the Pirate up and slammed him head first onto the floor, causing Locus to grunt in pain before Yang delivered a kick to his back, sending him spiralling forward.

Locus stood up yet again and shook himself, letting an animalistic snarl escape his lips. Both charged forward again and swung forward, Locus with his left and Yang with her right. Yang clutched Locus' left arm and locked it in a grip, an overconfident grin on her face.

"Having fun yet?" Yang asked, smirking as Locus struggled to free himself from the grip.

"This isn't a game, you blonde bitch!" Locus seethed as he attempted to deliver a kick to Yangs stomach, only for his leg to be caught by her free hand. She fired a shot from Ember Cilica, sending Locus off his feet where Yang quickly punched him in the gut, sending him spiralling backwards yet again.

Locus groaned as he got up from the blasts, staggering slightly before regaining his balance.

"How the hell are you even still standing?!" Yang shouted, breathing heavily as she spoke.

"You're quite experienced with administrating pain, but your blows are nothing compared to what I've already faced!" Locus seethed as he brought his hands up in a standard fighting stance.

"Let's see if we can change that..." Yang replied, dashing forward with Ember Cilica brought up to her face.

She quickly fired two blasts from Ember Cilica, both rounds impacting his chest as he stumbled back. Yang then crouched low as she tackled Locus, still charging forward with the intent of bashing him into the wall. Locus quickly clamped his hands together and thrust his elbow into the back of Yangs head, causing the blonde brawler to yelp in pain as she tumbled slightly and dropped Locus who fell on his back.

As Yang continued to tumble, Locus swung his right leg to the left in an upward arc, hitting Yangs jaw before bringing the same leg back, hitting her on the other side of her head. Then with both legs closed, he sent a kick to Yangs' stomach that sent her barrelling backwards onto the floor as he jumped up.

Yang slowly rose up and stumbled wildly as she attempted to regain her footing. His hits were coming harder now. Either he was getting stronger, which she doubted, or her aura was beginning to fail. As she regained her bearings, she realised her hair was beginning to block her vision. She brushed the stray strands to the side as her eyes registered the large amount of blood, dirt and sweat that were clinging to it like tape to a wall.

"Oh man...I'm gonna need a serious shower when I get back..." Yang groaned to herself, though judging from Locus' reaction, she had said it louder than intended.

"Really?! You are locked in battle that could very well end in your death and you're concerned about the state of your hair?!" Locus scolded as he tilted his head. "Perhaps if you spent as much time fighting as you did tending to your hair, you would be less predictable!"

"Predictable?!" Yang shouted as her hair began to glow brightly as flames danced around her form. "I've been going easy on you so far, but now the kiddie gloves are coming off!" Yang taunted as her hair became more wild and the flames more spread out, her eyes turning a shade of red slightly.

"We'll see..." Locus merely said as he held his fists up slightly.

Yang charged forward and swung her fists forward, Locus weaving beneath the blow and delivering a kick to her leg, spreading them apart slightly before hitting her in the gut, sending her staggering backwards. Yang growled as she charged yet again, throwing a right hook at Locus who quickly caught the blow and twisted her arm awkwardly, where he forced her to the ground before applying more pressure to her arm.

Yang screamed in pain as Locus continued to twist her arm. She knew he was trying to break it, make her more vulnerable to attacks. She wasn't going to let him get away with that though. Using her free hand, she fired a round at the floor, the blow powerful enough to spin her around and twist her arm into a more comfortable position whilst also dragging Locus along with her.

Using the momentum, she threw another punch at Locus, who was forced to release his grip as he staggered backwards. As he turned, Yang threw another punch, sending the Pirate flying back yet again. Yang looked at her arms to see that the fiery aura that had once surrounded her was beginning to fade. Her aura was weakening, it was time to finish this.

She charged Locus for a final time, raising her right fist for one powerful blow. Locus turned as the fist was mere inches away, and was already waiting for her. He caught the fist and spun round so his back was facing her. Still grasping onto her fist with his left hand, he thrust his right elbow below her ribs, causing Yang to buckle slightly at the blow. Then in quick succession, he delivered a blow to Yang's throat, causing the huntress in training to loosen up as she choked on her own wind pipe.

Spinning round to face her again, Locus locked her right leg behind his own leg and forced her to the ground with a loud thud.

Yang opened her now lilac eyes as her strength left her. Taking quick intakes of air, she attempted to slowly rise, only for intense pain all over her body force her to the ground. The ceiling lights blinded her, causing her vision to blur, only for a dark figure to block the light out, Locus.

"I must admit, I'm impressed." Locus replied, tilting his head back slightly, though his eyes were still focused on Yang. Yang attempted to turn over, only for Locus to slam his foot down on her stomach, causing her to groan in pain. Locus then walked towards Yang's head, his foot dangerously close to her.

"You would have made the perfect soldier, but you've been a thorn in my side for far too long!" Locus seethed, before raising his right foot, ready to stomp it down on Yang's head. "Good bye, Miss Xiao Long..."

"Not yet..." Yang whispered to herself determinately. Using what little strength she had left, she swept Locus' foot from the under him, causing him to yell out in surprise as he fell on his back. Rising quickly, she sprinted forward as Locus began to get up, clocking him around the head and sending him down again. Yang then quickly leapt on top of him, picking Locus up by his collar and readied her right fist for a death blow.

"Any last words before I turn you into paste, monster?" Yang seethed, her fists balling up tighter.

"I'm not a monster, I'm a soldier..." Locus replied, not even lifting his arms up to defend himself. "Do it! Complete your mission, be a good soldier and do your duty!" Locus taunted, looking directly at Yang with a stare so hard it seemed he was looking into her soul.

Yang raised her fist, ready to deliver a killing blow, but stopped. She didn't know why, it wasn't as if he didn't deserve to die, especially after what he did to Blake and all the lives he'd taken...but as she stared at the Pirate, she realised something.

He was already dead inside.

Whoever this man once was is gone, taken over by the man who now called himself Locus. He was broken, even if he didn't realise it yet. Killing him wouldn't bring back everyone he's killed, nor would it reverse what he had done to Blake. And whilst death was what he deserved, it wasn't in her nature. She wouldn't be able to live with herself knowing another man's blood was on her hands, no matter how many they'd killed. So instead, she lowered her fist as a cocky grin spread across her face.

"Thanks for the offer, but I think I'll pass." Yang said, causing Locus to grunt in confusion. Before the Pirate could even retort, Yang swung her right fist at Locus' head, causing him to grunt in pain as she relinquished her grip on him. "But I am gonna knock you out."

Yang smiled as Locus shifted around groggily on the floor, groaning painfully as he attempted to rise. Yang then sprinted forward down the corridor, turning around to face Locus one last time.

"Really looking forward to next time!" Yang taunted, giving Locus a one fingered salute as she sprinted through the doorway, the sliding doors closing behind her.

Locus grunted as he stumbled forward, nearly passing out as he leaned on one of the crates. He reached behind his back as he pulled a teleportation cube out, the black and orange box glowing wildly in his hands.

"There won't be a next time..." Locus seethed as he pressed a button on the device, where a glowing orange light proceeded to surround him before he disappeared without a trace…

 **00000000**

Jackson nursed his knee as Pirates dashed around, carrying whatever they could onto the Pelicans. Most of the Pelicans were already full and were awaiting further orders, the bay doors already open for an escape.

"Come on, hurry it up! Locus and Felix want these Pelicans ready ASAP!" Jackson barked as the Pirates hastened their pace. "Speaking of which, what the hell is taking them so long?" Jackson whispered to himself. He had heard fighting over head but thought nothing of it. He had tried contacting them both but was only met with stony silence.

Suddenly, a flash of orange caught his attention, blinding everyone present. Without warning, Locus stumbled into view, nearly collapsing onto the floor, his armour severely damaged.

"Locus! You all right sir?!" Jackson asked, as he attempted to help Locus up.

"Get off me!" Locus seethed as he pushed Jackson aside, opting to push himself up as all present watched the Pirate get up. He glared at the gathering crowd, causing them to immediately disperse and return to whatever task they were caught up in previously. "Is everything ready?" Locus questioned, turning slightly to Jackson as he staggered into the nearest Pelican.

"Nearly sir, we're just waiting on Felix." Jackson responded causing Locus to growl slightly. He quickly brought his hand to his radio, ready to contact his partner.

"Felix, report!" Locus ordered, the sounds of gunfire emanating from the other end.

" _Yeah yeah, I'm here! Don't get your pants in a twist!"_ Felix replied after a tense silence, the sound of gunfire still present.

"What is taking so long up there! We need to leave, now!" Locus shouted as gunfire continued to blare out from the other end.

" _Yeah I hear you, just need a few seconds."_ Felix stated. Suddenly, the sound of three consecutive gun shots were heard, followed by a stony silence.

" _On second thoughts, might need a bit longer..."_

 **00000000**

 **Another chapter done! Don't forget to review and constructive criticism is always welcome. Any questions? Either PM me or leave in your review and I'll answer them in the next chapter.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	15. The Dagger

**Hello again my dear readers. Putting this chapter out now as I'll be a bit too busy tomorrow morning when I usually write these up. First just some review responses. Writen, I'm happy that you told me how you felt with the chapter. Personally, I think I was taking too much inspiration from his final fight with Wash. You know, the whole 'Just! Die!' bit. Winddemon199, that sort of stuff tends to happen happen when you watch that video for what feels like the entire day...which I totally did not do at all...yeah. And to Guest, you need not worry about shipping. Also, two bits of news. Firstly, I have made a royal fuck up with Yang's weapons. Rather than calling them by their real name, Ember Celica, I have been calling them Ember Cilica. Great job brain! Also, I am pleased to announce that this story has recently been added to a community! The community is entitled 'The Good, The Funny and The WTF'. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 15- The Dagger**

Ruby continued to run through the dim lit corridor, dodging bullets with quick bursts of her semblance, ensuring not to overuse it and dramatically drain her Aura and strength. She had expected turrets to be in place to defend the area, but she thought that there would be at least some other form of defence in case the place was infiltrated. She pushed the thought to the back of her head as she slashed Crescent Rose at yet another turret, quickly disabling it with a single swipe. She looked around frantically to see if any other turrets were still online, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw none standing.

As she continued to run, she heard gunshots coming from her left. Sounded like Blake and Yang were having just as much trouble as she was with clearing their selected corridor. She turned another corner, ready to continue her sprint-

 _BANG!_

Ruby quickly back peddled as a stream of turret fire flew past her face. Hugging the wall, she edged to the corner and spied a pair of turrets that were ready to mow her down should she make a break for it.

"Time to improvise then..." Ruby whispered to herself, Crescent Rose quickly shifting into a Sniper Rifle.

She shuffled to the right slightly and aimed at the wall. If she got the angle right, she could hit the turret's without breaking cover. She held her breath as she looked through the scope. Just a little to the right and…

 _BANG!_

She fired the first shot, the round deflecting off the wall, followed by a small explosion and clattering of metal. Stealing a quick glance she saw that not only had she hit one of the turrets, but the resulting explosion had destroyed the second.

"Looks like my luck is starting to pay off..." Ruby muttered as she turned the corner, continuing her journey. As she came to the corner on the far side, she halted. She could hear footsteps pacing around. And judging from what sounded like a weapons safety being turned off, she was expected.

She held Crescent Rose to her chest, gripping the butt of the weapon tightly as her finger curled around the trigger. She turned, rolling from her spot and firing a shot at the assailants leg...only for the shot to be blocked by a blue holographic shield.

"Great reflexes Red!" Felix sarcastically complimented, his rifle leaning on his shoulder as he held the shield out defensively. "But you just weren't fast enough...again!"

"I'm faster then you...erm...but-head?" Ruby attempted to reply, though she herself was having trouble of thinking of something witty to say.

"Wow...real mature..." Felix dead-panned, shaking his head disappointedly. "But I guess I should expect that from a girl who can barely defend herself, let alone her friends."

"I defended myself against you, didn't I!" Ruby growled, tightening her grip on Crescent Rose. If he was trying to make her angry, then she wasn't going to fall for it.

"Well...you could say that but I wouldn't call getting knocked off your feet and getting held at gunpoint defending yourself." Felix retorted, tilting his head slightly.

"Still pretty embarrassing though, huh?" Ruby taunted, causing the Pirate to step back in surprise. "Getting knocked about by a 15 year old girl!"

"Oh wait, I'm sorry, did I miss the part where this is about me all of a sudden?" Felix questioned, gesturing to himself with his free hand. "Because quite frankly, I'd rather get to the part where I just kill you!"

Without a second to spare, Felix deactivated his Hardlight Shield and fired a burst from his DMR at Ruby, causing the Huntress to dive out of the way, returning fire herself. Felix quickly hurried to a nearby crate, firing pot-shots from his cover, much in the same way as Ruby was currently. Rather then stay and fight, Ruby decided the best course of action was to disengage and conserve her strength for later.

Quickly breaking cover, Ruby sped forward, pushed further by her Semblance, with the intent of putting as much distance between her and Felix as possible.

"Oh no you don't!" Felix shouted, quickly breaking cover and activating his Hardlight Shield and bashing her away, causing her to spin backwards before she regained her footing.

With Felix now standing between her and the way forward, Ruby knew the only way forward was through him. She quickly fired a few shots from Crescent Rose, but the Hardlight Shield deflected them all as Felix slowly edged closer to her. Quickly shifting Crescent Rose into it's Scythe form, Ruby jumped up onto one of the crates and leaped towards Felix, Crescent Rose held high above her head.

Quickly reacting despite the confusion present in his mind, Felix deactivated his Hardlight Shield and quickly reactivated it as Ruby came crashing down onto him. Ruby landed on top of the shield, the extra weight causing Felix to kneel, as she dug Crescent Rose's blade into the shield, causing it spark uncontrollably.

Felix then pushed up with an audible grunt, pushing Ruby off whilst deactivating his shield at the same time. As he brought his rifle up to aim at Ruby, she swung Crescent Rose in a clockwise spin, severing the rifle in two. Felix looked at the severed weapon in his hand as the barrel end spun wildly to the wall.

"So it's a Scythe as well as a Sniper Rifle?" Felix asked as he threw the now useless weapon away. Ruby only smirked as she spun Crescent Rose around effortlessly before planting the blade into the metal floor. "Well, I'm not gonna lie, Scythes are nice but..."

Felix quickly brought his right leg up, quickly pulling out a boot knife strapped to the side of his shin, twirling it around effortlessly as he held the blade in a reverse grip whilst bringing out a pistol in his left and holding it close to the blade.

"...I'm more into cloak and dagger myself!"

Ruby was the first to charge, spinning Crescent Rose in an upwards arc and bringing the blade down on Felix, who merely stood to the side whilst slashing with the knife, the blade mere inches from Ruby. As Felix finished his swing, he brought the pistol up and fired three shots at Ruby, who used Crescent Rose's grip to push the weapon to the side, wasting the shots.

Felix used the momentum from the push to spin on the spot, where he proceeded to do a ground level leg sweep, Ruby stumbling back to avoid the low blow. Bringing up the pistol again, Felix fired three more shots all of which Ruby dodged. Felix rose up, firing two more shots at Ruby's position. The sudden attack caused Ruby to spin wildly as she weaved past the bullets, causing her to trip and stumble.

As she laid on the floor, attempting to regain her bearings, Felix raised the pistol and aimed at Ruby's head, ready to end her life…

 _CLICK!...CLICK!...CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!_

Felix quickly checked the ammo clip, the weapon having spent all its bullets.

"What?!" Felix moaned as he looked at the pistol exaggeratedly. "You have got to be fucking kidding me!"

Ruby used this as her chance to recover, quickly rolling over and shifting Crescent Rose back into its Sniper form. Realising the danger he was in, Felix quickly rolled backwards before lunging to the nearby crate.

"Un-fucking-believable!" Felix whispered to himself as he loaded a fresh clip into the pistol, Ruby still firing on his position. His radio began to buzz to life as a buzzing noise pierced his ears. "Now is not a good time!" Felix seethed as the radio continued to buzz.

" _Felix, report!"_

Shit, it was Locus. And he sounded pissed.

"Yeah yeah, I'm here! Don't get your pants in a twist!" Felix replied, firing a few shots at Ruby as she began to make for a crate adjacent to her position.

" _What is taking so long up there! We need to leave, now!"_ Locus ordered. Man he really was pissed.

"Yeah I hear you, just need a few seconds." Felix replied. Ruby was nearly behind cover, he needed to shoot now or he'd not get another chance like this. As Ruby neared the crate, Felix fired three shots at Ruby, the young Huntress stumbling behind the crate as the shots flew towards her.

Had he hit her? Was she dead? All these questions and more filled Felix's mind as he slowly rose up, with not a single bullet following him. He raised his pistol up slowly should the girl be still alive, but judging from what had happened so far, the chances of that were-

 _BANG!_

The shot flew past him and knocked the pistol out of his hand, causing him to curse as he ducked for cover.

"On second thoughts, might need a bit longer..." Felix replied, chuckling slightly as he heard Locus growl on the other end.

" _Dammit Felix, this isn't a game! Our forces can't hold out for much longer! We need to get out now before-"_

"Thank you mute button..." Felix whispered as he silenced his radio, bringing his attention back to the fight. "Lets get a little tactful..." he continued, twirling the knife in his hand as his left hand reached for a device on his waist.

Ruby peeped around the corner, seeing no sign of Felix. She turned the corner, ready to make a full sprint for the other end. As she turned however, Felix lunged from his cover, throwing his knife at Ruby, who only just dodged the blade, the weapon piercing the floor instead. But something seemed odd about the blade...specifically the beeping noise and flashing red light.

It didn't take long for Ruby to put two and two together, turning to face Felix with a shocked look on her face. Felix merely sniggered and gave a mock salute as the beeping now became more consistent and frantic.

Lunging forward, Ruby rolled as the weapon exploded, the propulsion of the explosion sending her forward...right into Felix who quickly clotheslined her with his right arm, sending her spinning onto the floor.

As Ruby slowly rose up, Felix swung at her with his open fist, causing her to stagger back as she dodged the swing. Bringing Crescent Rose up, Ruby fired at point blank range at the Pirate, who effortlessly weaved through the bullets like it was second nature.

As soon as he was within range, he grabbed Crescent Rose by the barrel, swinging it to the side as he grabbed the other end of the weapon, both Felix and Ruby pushing against one another with the weapon.

"Say Red, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting tired..." Felix said, putting more force onto the weapon, pushing Ruby back slightly.

"No...you're getting...tired!" Ruby replied, wincing slightly as she applied more strength to negate the pressure Felix was applying.

"You really aren't good at comebacks, are you?" Felix asked, craning his head back slightly.

All Ruby could do was shrug as she continued to grapple for possession of her weapon.

"Well, I'm sure if we put our heads together!" Felix stated, before he brought his head back and delivered a powerful head-butt to Ruby, causing her to loosen her grip on Crescent Rose. "We'll think of something!" he finished, before delivering a kick to Ruby's stomach, causing her to stagger back and lose her grip on Crescent Rose, which Felix hefted up slightly, clearly struggling with the weapon.

"Jesus, this is heavy!" Felix wheezed as he lifted the weapon up to his chest, straining to keep the weapon up slightly. "Here, catch!"

Felix quickly threw the weapon back at Ruby, who clumsily caught the weapon, knocking her to the ground in the process. As Felix charged, ready to slam his boot on the Huntress, Ruby quickly rolled to the side. As Felix's foot hit the floor, Ruby slammed the barrel of Crescent Rose into the back of his knee, forcing him into a kneeling position.

Ruby then shifted Crescent Rose into its Scythe mode and swung the blade at Felix, who merely blocked the blow with his Hardlight Shield. Turning on his heel, Felix pushed back against Ruby, shoving her to the side as he drew another knife from a hidden compartment in his armour.

"What the...Where are you pulling those knives from?" Ruby asked as Felix deactivated his Shield, pulling yet another knife out.

"I'd tell you, but then I'd have to kill you..." Felix replied as he twirled both knives in his hand. "So I think I'll just kill you instead!"

Felix charged yet again, swinging wildly with both knives in an outwards arc as Ruby dodged the strike with ease. Ruby then swung upwards with Crescent Rose, Felix easily stepping to the side as he jumped into the air and swung down with both blades, catching Ruby off guard as she staggered back slightly.

Felix lunged forward, kicking Ruby with his right shin before following through with his left shin, both attacks Ruby managed to parry, though leaving her open to high attacks. Felix then swung forward with both knives, Ruby only just managing to avoid the strike.

However, as she pulled her head back, she felt a stinging sensation on her left cheek. As she pulled back, she looked in shock at the knife in Felix's right hand, the tip dripping with blood. Her hand immediately went to her cheek, though immediately pulled it back as she felt something warm and wet. Looking at her fingers, she saw a faint layer of blood on her finger tips.

"Oh no...you're hurt?" Felix gasped with fake sympathy as he held the bloodied blade to his helmeted head, slowly stroking the cheek of his helmet with the tip of the knife. "Don't worry Red, give up now and I'll make it quicker than it should be..."

Ruby growled as she held Crescent Rose up, knowing full well that Felix was toying with her. She could still beat him, it wasn't over till the fat lady sang...or something like that…

"I've fought worse than you!" Ruby taunted, holding Crescent Rose closer to her chest.

"I seriously doubt that, besides, you're nothing without your team." Felix rebuked, moving closer to Ruby who backed away slowly. "Run all you want, no-one is coming to save you..."

"Hey dick-wad!" a new voice shouted, causing both Felix and Ruby to grunt in surprise and turn to face the source of the voice.

Suddenly, a flaming blue orb flew towards Felix who easily dodged the projectile which instead stuck to the wall, exploding violently afterwards. Both Felix and Ruby covered their eyes from the explosion before turning, seeing none other than Tucker, Energy Sword in hand.

"Seriously, you?" Felix asked as he held his hands out in mock surprise.

"Damn right asshole, and it's time for a rematch!" Tucker shouted, raising his Energy Sword as he let out a primal roar and charged.

Felix simply stood to the side and kicked Tucker, causing him to flail uncontrollably towards Ruby, who managed to step to the side as Tucker crashed into the floor.

"Ow! Son of a Bitch, not again!" Tucker complained as he rolled over to face Felix who merely laughed at the display before him.

"Listen kids, it's been great fun, really it has! But I'm afraid I'm gonna have to go!" Felix stated as he pulled a teleportation cube from his waist. "Sayonara cock-bites!"

Immediately, Felix was enveloped by a flash of orange light, leaving both Tucker and Ruby alone in the hallway.

"Man, what a dick!" Tucker mumbled as he slowly got up from the floor, brushing dust off his armour.

"Tell me about it..." Ruby replied, causing Tucker to grunt in response. "Wait, what are you doing here? Is the fighting over outside?"

"More or less, Wash and Carolina are clearing up what's left of the rabble." Tucker replied, turning to face Ruby. "Not much of a problem considering the Pirate's are shooting everyone now."

"Wait, what?" Ruby asked, unsure if she heard Tucker correctly.

"The Pirate's just started shooting everyone. Our guys AND those White Fang dudes. Crazy right?" Tucker replied, holding his arms out to the side as he spoke.

"Huh..." Ruby muttered as her thoughts drifted back to her friends and the mission. "I need you to make sure no-one follows me, I have to get to the temple core now!"

"Got it!" Tucker replied as he turned and walked back the way he came, no doubt to gather reinforcements.

Ruby turned to face the corridor, powering up her Semblance as she dashed through the corridor, hoping to reunite with her friends once more.

 **00000000**

Felix shuddered as the light surrounded him, taking him from the corridor to the hangar bay. Already some of the Pelicans were preparing for take-off, including the one Locus was on.

"What, leaving without me without so much as a good-bye? I'm hurt..." Felix joked as he strode towards the Pelican, Locus and the other occupants turning at the sound of his voice.

"What took you so long?" Locus seethed as he pulled Felix onto the Pelican, the doors closing behind him.

"What? No 'how are you' or anything?" Felix asked, causing Locus to growl slightly. "Jesus, what happened to you? Lose a fight with a bear or something?" Felix asked as he poked Locus' damaged armour. Locus quickly swatted his hand away before turning to the cockpit.

"Jackson, get us in the air." Locus ordered, twirling his left hand in the air to signal him and the pilot to lift off.

"Yes sir!" Jackson replied as he and the pilot prepared to take-off, the Pelican's engines humming to life as the ship started to rocket forward, leaving the temple in their dust.

Felix and Locus looked out at the bay door window, watching as the signs of combat got further and further away…

 **00000000**

Ruby continued sprinting for what felt like hours. All these corridors looked the same, for all she knew she could be going in circles. She quickly skidded to a stop at a crossroads, unsure what path to take. Fast footsteps to her left immediately caught her attention, causing her to aim Crescent Rose only to stop at the sight of a familiar figure.

"Yang?" Ruby asked as the form of her sister came into view.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, battered, but still alive after her brawl with Locus. The two sisters immediately charged one another, wrapping their arms around one another as they embraced each other in a hug. "Oh my goodness! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine sis'!" Ruby laughed as she continued to hug her sister. "Where's Blake?"

"She went on ahead. I've been trying to catch up to her but..." Yang froze as both sisters heard footsteps approaching from the corridor in front of Ruby. Both sisters turned to see Weiss limp forward, a long black gash on her leg.

"Weiss!" Ruby shouted as she charged the Heiress, nearly knocking her over.

"Get off of me!" Weiss complained as she pushed Ruby off her, staggering slightly as Ruby refused to release her grip.

"What happened to your leg?" Ruby asked as she pointed to the singed cut on her leg.

"It's a long story..." Weiss replied as she rubbed her temple slightly.

"Come on, Blake probably went this way. If we hurry up we might catch her." Yang said, pointing to the final corridor.

Ruby and Weiss nodded in agreement, as all three Huntresses sprinted down the corridor, heading to their final battle…

 **00000000**

 **Another chapter complete. If you haven't already guessed it, the story is coming to an end. But fear not, for there are still some chapters left to do. If you liked this chapter, feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcome. Any questions? Leave in your review or PM me and I'll reply in the next chapter.**

 **Raging Archon out.**

" _ **As you get older, the questions come down to about two or three. How long? And what do I do with the time I've got left?" David Bowie, 1947-2016. You shall be missed, Starman.**_


	16. Teamwork

**Well, we are nearly there folks. The second to last chapter is upon us. No questions to answer so I'll just get to it. Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 16- Teamwork**

" **FIRING MAIN CANNON!"**

Blake flipped backwards as the Mantis fired the chain gun at her location, the white hot lead bullets scorching the floor where she once stood. Looking up, she spotted a small balcony overlooking the room and reacted instantly.

Firing Gambol Shroud at the ledge and used it as a zip line, zooming past the Mantis and flipping onto the ledge. The Mantis turned and looked up, continuing to fire the chain gun at the ledge, Blake zooming past the bullets before the Mantis stopped its assault, the tip of the gun glowing red hot as it overheated.

Shifting Gambol Shroud into its pistol mode, Blake fired a few rounds at the metal behemoth, only for the rounds to bounce harmlessly off its shielding, which flared a bright gold colour as the bullets reacted to the surface.

" **THREAT LEVEL INCREASED! DEADLY FORCE AUTHORISED!"** The Mantis announced, pointing the cannon in its left hand at Blake's location.

The weapon hummed to life as the inside of the multiple barrels glowed orange, the humming getting louder as the weapons glowed brighter. Blake's eyes widened as she realised just what was about to happen. In an instant, the Mantis fired five rockets from its left arm, the small yet deadly missiles zooming towards her. Blake leapt to the side as the missiles impacted the balcony, the propulsion of the explosion sending her further as the balcony now hung by a thread, with Blake dangling below it, gripping on for dear life.

Torchwick sneered as he aimed Melodic Cudgel at Blake, his cross-hair aimed just above her.

"Heads up!" Torchwick taunted as he let the Dust missile fly forwards, impacting the balcony causing it to swing around wildly.

Blake let out a cry of panic as she felt her grip slip on the balcony and was sent flying backwards onto the floor. Before she hit the ground however, she felt a tug on her waist. Looking down, she saw Melodic Cudgel hooked onto her.

Before Blake could properly react, Torchwick tugged on his weapon, causing Blake to fly towards him, only for the Mantis to interject and kick her to the side, causing her to tumble onto the floor. Blake winced as she slowly rose, only to collapse seconds later. She looked up to see Torchwick smiling smugly as he twirled Melodic Cudgel around, the Mantis slowly approaching her.

"And here I thought cats were supposed to land on all fours!" Torchwick chuckled loudly as he tapped the floor with Melodic Cudgel.

Blake growled as she attempted to rise and charge Torchwick, only for the Mantis to deliver a soft kick to her gut, but it was enough to send Blake sprawling on her back.

"I've enjoyed our time together, really I have! But I'm afraid your nine lives our about to get spent!" Torchwick stated, slowly tipping his hat to Blake. "Goodbye, Miss Belladonna..."

The Mantis swiftly brought its foot down on Blake, who swiftly raised her arms and legs in an attempt to push the Mantis' foot back. The more force she applied, the more the Mantis did. Realising her strength would fail her soon, Blake quickly activated her Semblance, sliding backwards as the Mantis crushed the shadow clone, causing it to stagger slightly.

The Mantis was quick to recover though, aiming the chain gun at Blake as it slowly started to spin.

" **FIRING MAIN CAN-"**

A barrage of explosions quickly caused the Mantis to stumble back, causing it to loose focus on Blake as Torchwick looked on with a shocked look on his face. All three in the room turned to the entrance, as Blake was greeted by a sight she was more than happy to see.

There stood Ruby, Weiss and Yang, all of them had their weapons trained on the Mantis, which started to slowly back away as it analysed the new combatants.

"Need a hand?" Yang asked, the usual care-free smile on her face as she lent out a hand to Blake who gladly took it.

The Mantis quickly turned to face Torchwick, who looked at the Mantis with an expectant look on his face.

"Well don't just stand there! Shoot them!"

" **DEADLY FORCE AUTHORISED!"** The Mantis announced as it spread its legs apart slightly, both weapons humming to life as it suddenly launched a barrage of bullets and missiles at the four Huntresses.

The four Huntresses spread out immediately to avoid the blasts. Weiss activated three glyphs in front of her to redirect some of the bullets back at the Mantis. Blake spun around the Mantis as she fired Gambol Shroud at the unprotected joints in an attempt to cripple it whilst also dodging multiple shots from Melodic Cudgel. Yang had managed to weave through the barrage and was now grappling onto the Mantis' head, pounding Ember Celica on the metal hull in an attempt to weaken it's shields. Ruby had gone to the very edge of the room and was firing Crescent Rose at the Mantis, the high calibre rounds actually causing significant damage to the Mantis. This however, did not go unnoticed, as the Mantis turned it's attention on Ruby.

" **THREAT LEVEL INCREASED! ENGAGING HIGH VALUE TARGET!"**

The Mantis fired the chain gun at Ruby who was quick to turn tail in an attempt to dodge the barrage of bullets. The Mantis continued to trace Ruby as it's head slowly turned.

" **TARGET LOCKED! FIRING MAIN MISSILES!"** The Mantis announced as the cannon on its left arm began to glow and hum to life. At the last second however, the cannon suddenly froze over as it was covered in a thick layer of ice. The Mantis aborted the firing sequence as it stared in confusion at the weapon, before turning to face Weiss, who was holding Myrtenaster aloft at the Mantis.

Reacting quickly, the Mantis raised its right foot off the floor and immediately brought it down, causing a small quake in the floor that was more than enough to send the heiress tumbling to the floor. As Yang continued to punch the Mantis, it quickly spun its top half around, going faster with each spin. Eventually, Yang was sent flying into the wall as she slid to the ground. Yang let out a growl as she rose, more pissed off than hurt.

The Mantis quickly fired at her location, which Yang swiftly weaved through as her eyes began to glow red. As she got closer, Yang leapt into the air and delivered a single punch to the Mantis, causing it to stagger a great distance as sparks arced around it's hull.

" **SHIELD LEVELS CRITICAL, HULL DAMAGE IMMINENT!"** The Mantis announced, its voice far more distorted than before.

"Now is our chance!" Ruby shouted, quickly regrouping with the rest of her team.

Weiss quickly nodded as she placed a large ice glyph under the Mantis' left leg, which activated for an immediate effect, coating the leg in a thick layer of ice. The Mantis looked down in confusion as it slowly raised the frozen leg, applying pressure to the joints in an attempt to break the icy cast.

Yang then charged forward, firing Ember Celica into the floor to give her a boost as she flew towards the Mantis, its attention focused on its icy prison.

Suddenly, an explosive round hit Yang mid-air, causing her to spiral out of control and hit the floor. As she rose, she looked to the side as the Mantis quickly shattered the ice cast and regained its footing, her and the rest of Team RWBY's gaze focused on Roman Torchwick who was aiming Melodic Cudgel at Yang.

"You didn't think it would be that easy did you?" Torchwick sneered as he fired a dust round at the blonde brawler who was quick to duck and roll under the round, sliding next to her team as the Mantis aimed the chain gun at RWBY.

"We can't take them both on at the same time!" Weiss summarised as she quickly thrust Myrtenaster into the ground, creating an icy dome around them as the Mantis fired at the frozen shield to no avail.

The Mantis quickly brought its foot down on the icy dome, applying large amounts of pressure on the shield, causing it to crack under the added weight.

"She's right, we need to split!" Blake added as the dome groaned as rays of light began to make their way through the thin cracks which only grew larger by the minute.

"Weiss! You and Yang control the robot! Me and Blake will take Torchwick!" Ruby ordered, earning nods all around.

As the shield prepared to give way, Yang sent an explosive punch where the Mantis' foot was, shattering the dome and causing the Mantis to stagger back a great deal. Weiss and Yang were quick to engage the Mantis, darting around it in circles causing it back away as it attempted to line up a shot whilst Ruby and Blake headed towards Torchwick who was fiddling with the console in front of him.

He turned and let out a startled gasp as both Blake and Ruby approached him at a rapid pace. Reacting quickly, he brought Melodic Cudgel up and fired three bursts, Blake and Ruby easily vaulting over the explosive rounds. Blake leapt into the air and raised Gambol Shroud to perform an overhead slash, only for Torchwick to bat the blow to the side, causing Blake to roll forward. As Torchwick raised Melodic Cudgel, he felt the weapon get tugged from his hand as Ruby snagged the weapon from his hand with Crescent Rose's blade, a smug look on her face. Torchwick turned with a shocked expression as he heard Blake recover behind him and ducked beneath the blow.

"Clever girl..." Torchwick muttered as his hand went for a weapon hidden in his coat. "But the Mantis wasn't the only toy the Pirates gifted me with!"

He quickly drew a small concealed hybrid pistol, similar to the one Weiss had used during her fight with Jackson. He quickly fired the pistol at Ruby and Blake, the yellow bolts zooming towards them as both Huntresses dodged the blasts.

As Ruby continued to dodge the blasts, she suddenly smelt smoke, as if something had been singed. Stopping her vaulting to look around, she froze as she saw a large hole in the corner of her cape. The cape given to her by her mother before she died. Ruby looked up to see Torchwick now focusing on Blake, his lips curled into a sneer as he continued to fire at the faunus.

An overwhelming surge of anger found its way into Ruby as she let out a somewhat primal yell. Torchwick turned and his sneer soon disappeared, replaced by a look of shock as Ruby charged forward, Crescent Rose raised high. Torchwick attempted to raise his hands in defence as Ruby brought the scythe down on him, severing the hybrid weapon in half and causing him to stagger back. Torchwick recovered from the strike, only to get hit in the gut by the butt of the scythe, sending him spiralling into the control panel where he banged his head on the corner, knocking him out cold.

Ruby seethed as she overlooked the groaning body of Torchwick, before hitting him in the back of his head with the butt of Crescent Rose, the anger leaving her as quickly as it had entered.

"Ruby? Are you okay?" Blake asked, obviously concerned for her friend. Anger like this was common in her sister but she had never seen Ruby like that before.

Ruby sighed as she nodded her head, glancing down at the now scorched cloak. Blake simply nodded in response as both Huntresses turned their attention to their friends.

Yang and Weiss were still circling the Mantis which had now resorted to just standing still and firing quick bursts to avoid its only weapon from overheating.

Weiss quickly placed an ice glyph beneath the Mantis as she had done before, quickly freezing the left leg again.

Reacting quicker this time, the Mantis brought the frozen leg up and applied pressure to the joints so it could get back into the fight quickly. As she had done before, Yang leapt into the air once again only this time with no one to stop her. She quickly hit the Mantis square in the nose, causing it to crumple under the force of the blow. With only one leg to stand on, the Mantis was sent skidding to the floor as it flailed about uncontrollably, unable to get up.

Weiss quickly powered up a trio of ice glyphs, using the last of her dust supply, in front of Yang. Upon seeing this, Yang let out a soft chuckle and sung her fist into the centre of the glyph, firing Ember Celica at the same time. The resulting combo caused an icy missile to fly forward, aimed directly at the Mantis which could only squirm around helplessly. As the missile hit, it resulted in a large explosion, sending ice and metal flying in all directions, leaving nothing but a shattered hull behind.

"We did it!" Ruby shouted as she raised her hands in the air and swung them wildly.

"Hell yeah we did!" Yang cheered, pumping her fist in the air wildly. Even Weiss and Blake dropped their usual attitude as they looked at the now burning wreckage of the Mantis, smiles plastering their faces. Suddenly, they heard a large commotion outside the main door as they heard multiple footsteps rapidly approaching.

Quickly re-entering their fighting stances, Team RWBY braced themselves for whatever may be on the other side. The doors hissed open, and RWBY dropped their guard as they saw a familiar multi-coloured group enter their view.

"Don't worry we're here!" Carolina shouted as she ran forward, Battle Rifle drawn. "We'll take care of the enemy while you-"

Carolina paused as the Mantis suddenly exploded, causing all to pause as they looked at the burning wreckage.

"Oh..." Carolina muttered as she lowered her weapon, staring blankly at the burning remains of the Mantis. "Or not..."

"Did we miss anything?" Sarge shouted as he pushed his way to the front of the group, only to stop as the Mantis came into his view. "Aww dang it!"

" _Carolina, we got a live one!"_ Church announced, appearing next to Carolina as he pointed to Torchwick's crumpled form.

Torchwick groaned as he began to wake up, rubbing the back of his head as he got a whiff of what smelled like burning metal. Quickly looking up, he saw the Mantis destroyed and a large amount of soldiers in the room, two heading his way.

One was obviously female and wore armour similar to the female Pirates save it was a light blue instead of grey. The other was a male and wore bulky armour with a wide golden orange visor covering his face. He groaned awkwardly as the two soldiers looked at him with their arms crossed over their chests.

"This...isn't what it looks like!" Torchwick finally said, as he gestured to the scene around him.

"Really? Because it looks like you just tried to kill our friends over there!" the grey armoured man replied, gesturing towards the four Huntresses.

"Listen, this is all just a miss understanding!" Torchwick hastily replied, causing the two soldiers to tilt their heads questioningly. "I sincerely apologise for my behaviour towards you all! Perhaps we can even discuss a mutually beneficial arrangement?"

"What type of arrangement?" Carolina asked, tilting her head slightly.

"One where I give you information in return for my life." Torchwick explained. The two soldiers stared at one another, as if actually considering the offer. Torchwick silently chuckled to himself, these idiots were easier to manipulate then the Pirates!

Torchwick finally received an answer in the form of a punch from Carolina, quickly knocking him out again.

"Apology accepted...but we'll decline the offer." Carolina muttered, shaking her hand as Washington went to place a pair of handcuffs on Torchwick. "All forces, this is Agent Carolina! The facility is secure, I repeat, the facility is secure!"

A chorus of cheers resounded on the other end of the comms as well as inside the room.

"Oh my god! I am so happy I could explode!" Caboose shouted as he pulled the trigger on Freckles, only for a large amount of confetti to spurt out, earning a soft chuckle from Weiss.

"Yeah, suck it blacks...and by blacks I mean the colour of their armour not their skin!" Simmons shouted, quickly correcting himself.

" **Cerdo racista! (Racist pig!)"** Lopez muttered, staring daggers at Simmons.

"You're right Lopez! This is cause for a celebration!" Donut said, raising his finger up as he spoke.

" _Hey Carolina, I'm getting some weird signals from this beam, I'm gonna go check it out and see what Mr Delarge over here was up to..."_ Church announced before his holographic form disappeared, entering the control panel being used by Torchwick.

"Hey look, a jukebox!" Donut shouted, pointing to the strange device resting next to Torchwick's unconscious body. "Now we can really turn this celebration to a fiesta!"

"Uhm...I don't think that's a jukebox Donut..." Grif quietly replied, slowly edging towards the large device.

"Of course it is, see?" Donut replied as he gestured to the device. "Here, let me prove it!"

Donut then raised his hands as he went to press what he assumed was the power button.

" _Wait! Don't touch that!"_ Church quickly shouted, as he quickly reappeared holding out his hands pleadingly.

But it was too late. Donut applied just a little too much pressure on the button, causing the device to hum loudly as a digitalised clock appeared on the device.

" _BOMB ARMED! YOU HAVE: ONE MINUTE TO REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE! THANK YOU!"_

 **00000000**

 **God dammit Donut...well, tune in next week for the final chapter. It's gonna end one way or another so...you know. Feel free to leave a review and constructive criticism is welcome. Any questions? Leave in your review or PM because this is really your last chance for this story! Once I'm done with this story, I'll be focusing on my other story 'Reap What You Sow' which I advise you check out if you like this one and then starting production on another RWBY crossover which I'll go into more detail next week.**

 **Raging Archon out.**


	17. This is the end

**Well my friends, it's here! The final chapter of The Chorus Chronicle! It has been one crazy ride since October last year. There have been the good, the bad and the ugly and it all comes down to this chapter! But first, review responses. And to all of them, I'll say you will just have to wait and see. You'll find out soon enough. But enough talk! Now, on with the show!**

 **00000000**

 **Chapter 17- This is the end**

" _BOMB ARMED! YOU HAVE: ONE MINUTE TO REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE! THANK YOU!"_

"Donut!" Sarge shouted, waving his arms around erratically as panic quickly spread amongst the group.

"What?! I thought it was a jukebox!" Donut replied, huddling slightly as the bomb started beeping as each second passed.

 **"¿Qué tipo de máquina de discos parece una puta bomba?! (What type of jukebox looks like a fucking bomb?!)"** Lopez shouted, his body twitching in anger at every word he said.

"See! Lopez is on my side!" Donut quickly said, causing the Spanish robot to growl in response.

"You know, I knew one of you idiots would end up killing us, but I always thought it would be Caboose!" Yang butted in, taking a quick glance at the blue soldier.

"Well the days not over YET!" Caboose quickly replied, causing Yang to grunt in agreement.

" _YOU HAVE: 45 SECONDS TO REACH MINIMUM SAFE DISTANCE!"_ the automated voice on the bomb announced, the beeping growing louder and more consistent as time passed.

"We have to get the men out of here!" Carolina quickly stated, turning to Wash as she spoke.

"There would be no time!" Wash quickly countered, glancing towards the bomb. "This bomb looks like it could swallow the entire valley in a matter of seconds!"

"We can at least try!" Carolina retorted.

"And what about us?! We don't have any teleportation cubes left!" Wash quickly replied, causing Carolina to growl in annoyance.

" _YOU HAVE: 30 SECONDS TILL DETONATION!"_

"Err...did anyone else notice it stopped saying minimum safe distance?..." Grif whined, looking around in panic.

"Simmons!" Sarge shouted, looking up to Simmons before pointing at the bomb. "Disarm that device immediately!"

"I can't!" Simmons quickly retorted as he glanced at the bomb before them. "I'm a three wire guy! This piece of crap has like...a gazillion wires!"

"Hey blue's!" Sarge shouted, turning to Tucker and Caboose. "Get your fairy in their to shut this thing down!"

"His name is MISTER Fairy to you!" Caboose shouted, quickly causing Tucker to sigh and face palm.

" _Besides, I already checked! This thing is littered with 'dead man triggers'! I shut it down and it blows up in our face!"_ Church quickly countered, appearing next to the bomb in question.

" _YOU HAVE: 15 SECONDS TILL DETONATION!"_

"So...this is it then?" Ruby asked, a sorrowful look on her face.

She...hadn't really thought much about death. She always thought she would die either on a hunt or in the solitude of her home when she was past her prime. She didn't think she would die on an alien planet having been blown up by a bomb! She looked to her team-mates, and saw the same shocked looks on their faces. But if there was one consolation, at least she would die surrounded by people she considered friends…

" _Not necessarily!"_ Church replied, causing everyone to look at him in confusion. _"But we need to get the bomb onto that pad right now!"_

"Are you out of your fucking mind?!" Tucker shouted, looking at Church with his arms spread open. "There's no way we can lift that thing!"

"You can't," Yang said, causing all to turn to her. "but maybe I can."

Before anyone could question, Yang turned and strode towards the bomb, which was beeping loudly as it neared the end of it's countdown. Using every ounce of her strength, Yang hefted the bomb up off the floor, carefully moving towards the platform.

"It's too heavy for her!" Ruby shouted, rushing forward only to be grabbed by Weiss who held her back. "She'll never make it in time!"

" _Oh yes she will!"_ Church shouted, turning to face the last person Ruby expected. _"Caboose!"_

"Yes?" Caboose replied, seemingly oblivious to the danger he and the others were in.

" _Get the bomb onto the platform!"_ Church shouted, pointing to Yang who was still carrying the bomb to the platform.

"Okay!" Caboose replied, quickly moving next to Yang and grabbing the other end of the bomb, relieving much of the weight off of Yang.

" _Carolina!"_ Church said, causing the Freelancer to turn towards the A.I. _"When I give the signal, press the big green button!"_

"Got it!" Carolina replied, quickly rushing to the control panel, her hand hovering over the button in question.

"Hurry up!" Simmons shouted erratically as Yang and Caboose lowered the bomb onto the platform.

" _Everyone get back!"_ Church ordered as the bomb started to beep even louder as it violently shook and hissed out steam. _"NOW!"_

Carolina quickly pressed the button, as the core in front of them started to glow brightly. Seconds later, a pure white beam erupted on the platform, consuming the bomb and blinding everyone present. As the light died down, the Blood Gulch Crew and Team RWBY looked at the platform, the bomb no longer present.

"Did it work?" Caboose asked, causing everyone to look at the blue soldier questioningly.

 **00000000**

 **New Lincoln outskirts…**

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" The White Fang grunt asked, being careful not to trip over any of the debris or dead bodies that littered the street. "I mean, aren't we like...AWOL or something?"

"Look, I'm telling you that those guys were going to kill us!" the second grunt replied, turning to face his fellow escapee. "Me and Greg were spying on those boss dudes and they said they were going to kill us once Torchwick has done his job! And then they killed Greg!"

"Yeah but...wouldn't it have been better if we went all cloak and dagger on their asses and pick them off one by one instead of you know...running?" the first grunt asked, tilting his head questioningly.

"This is safer! We just lay low for a couple of months until we can find a way back to Remnant!" the second grunt retorted, stopping in his tracks as he explained the plan. "We would probably get something like a promotion from Adam if we tell him about a new planet and have the proof to back it up!"

"Well...when you say it like that..." the first grunt asked, stopping as he daydreamed of the potential benefits of getting a promotion.

"See? Besides, what's the worst that can happen?"

Almost as if God was playing a cruel trick on them, a beam of light suddenly hit the ground in front of them, blinding them immediately and kicking up a large amount of dust on the floor. As it cleared, the White Fang grunts stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of a large and very loud bomb.

"You gotta be kidding me..." the second grunt muttered, before sighing loudly as the bomb beeped ever louder. "Son of a Bi-"

 **00000000**

The explosion could be heard even from the safe distance of the Pirates Pelican, but not even they were safe from the shock-wave that followed.

The Pelican was hit almost immediately by the blast of kinetic energy, sending it careening off course and sending the occupants flying to one side of the drop ship as it attempted to correct itself. Had it been any closer to the ground it would have crashed into the tree line, turning all present into a barbecue.

"I guess Torchwick did his job then..." Felix muttered as he brushed his armour off before standing up.

"Don't be so sure..." Locus replied, who was already gazing out the back window of the Pelican.

Felix quickly strolled over to Locus and gazed out the window. There stood a city burning to a crisp, but it wasn't Armonia. In fact, it wasn't even occupied by any force.

"That lousy son of a bitch!" Felix seethed as he clenched his fist, glaring daggers at the towering inferno as it began to collapse on itself. "Looks like Torchwick screwed us over!"

"Agreed." Locus replied, turning to face the others on board the Pelican, who had all recovered and were nursing bruised arms and legs. "Jackson, how many made it out?"

"We still got contact with a few squads that got out early." Jackson replied, groaning loudly as he rubbed the back of his head. "They said apart from them, no one else made it."

"Shit..." Felix muttered, slowly walking next to Locus who turned slightly as Felix approached. "Apart from Crash Site Alpha and a few other outposts, we've got nothing! Now what?"

"Now," Locus began, stopping as he gazed back at the Temple, which was getting smaller and smaller by the minute. "we call Control."

 **00000000**

The Temple shook violently as the after effects of the bomb shook the building wildly, nearly sending the group crashing to the floor.

"Everyone get down!" Carolina ordered as the group quickly fell to the floor, or in the case of Caboose tipped over, as the Temple continued to shake before stopping.

It was quiet for a few seconds until the group slowly got up, looking around for any structural damage the Temple may have received.

"EARTHQUAKE!" Caboose shouted, causing Tucker to quickly bat Caboose across the head.

"Dammit Caboose, that was ten seconds ago!" Tucker shouted, getting up as Caboose rubbed the back of his head slowly.

"Are we dead?" Grif asked, looking around as he began to rub his hands on his body, ensuring he was corporeal.

"Unfortunately, no." Sarge replied before he pumped his Shotgun. "But that can be arranged!"

"Cut it out Sarge..." Wash ordered, causing Sarge to grunt disapprovingly as he lowered his weapon.

"Epsilon, how did you know that would work?" Carolina asked, turning to face the A.I.

" _Like I told you, I did some digging."_ Church replied as he hovered next to the Temple core, which was noticeably dimmer than it had been before. _"I was analysing the Temple before dumbo over there turned the bomb on!"_

"Hey!" Donut shouted, quickly causing the group to glare at him before turning to face the A.I.

" _Anyway, I analysed it a bit further and it turned out this is a Teleporter!"_ Church summarised, causing a host of shocked faces to look at him. _"And that's not all...according to its file history, it was used by the aliens for interstellar travel!"_

"Wait a minute," Ruby interrupted, shaking her head as she tried to take in all the information. "Are you saying...what I think you're saying?"

" _That it can take you back home?"_ Church asked, before nodding his head in confirmation. _"Pretty much!"_

Team RWBY were soon looking at one another in complete shock and joy. They would finally be able to go home!

"You know what this means boys?" Sarge said, causing the Blood Gulch Crew to turn and face him. "It means we can go home and put Hargrove behind bars!"

"Holy shit, he's right!" Tucker said, causing the Blood Gulch Crew to have their own little celebration.

" _Guy's...it's not that simple..."_ Church suddenly said, silencing both celebrations as both groups turned to face the A.I questioningly.

"What are you talking about?" Weiss questioned, raising her eyebrow slightly.

" _This Temple has seen better days. The Pirates have drained too much of its energy and that last teleport took a lot out of it!"_ Church explained, as the realisation hit the group. _"It only has enough power for a one final trip."_

"So...we have to choose?" Donut asked, the Blood Gulch Crew and Team RWBY looking at one another in shock.

"You guys should use the Teleporter." Ruby quickly said, causing the Blood Gulch Crew to look at the Huntress in Training incredulously. "You need it more than we do. This Hargrove person sounds like a bad person, and you should do everything you can to stop him before he destroys the lives of others."

Ruby glanced back at her team, and was surprised at their reaction. For once, it seemed all four Huntresses were in agreement with one another.

"But...what about you guys? How will you get home?" Simmons finally asked, as the four Huntresses looked at one another.

"I'm sure we'll find a way." Yang replied, her hands placed on her hips. "We always have before."

The Blood Gulch Crew turned to face one another as they debated amongst themselves. Team RWBY looked at one another in confusion at what was taking them so long. Finally, Tucker walked forward, ready to give them their answer.

"Meh," Tucker grunted, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "We'll wing it!"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Blake asked, stepping forward slightly as she spoke.

"You use the Teleporter." Wash quickly explained, causing RWBY to gasp in silent shock. "We've got it covered here."

"But...Hargrove and...the Pirates?" Ruby stuttered, the shock in her voice clearly present.

"Even if we did make it back to Earth, the chances of anyone believing us without the proof to back it up is extremely low." Carolina quickly added, causing the group to turn and face her.

"Besides, there is nothing left for us on Earth." Sarge quickly butted in. "We've got nothing. But you, you all have friends, family even that are probably worried sick about you four!"

"Wow Sarge...I didn't think you could be so...deep!" Simmons said, tilting his head back in shock.

"Besides, back home there are a lack of Pirates to blow up!" Sarge quickly added, chuckling to himself as he imagined himself blowing off the heads of Space Pirates...in slow motion of course!

"Never mind..." Simmons sighed as he lowered his head in disappointment.

" _So, what do you say?"_ Church asked, turning to face RWBY who all looked at one another, silently discussing.

Finally, Ruby turned to face the A.I, a confident grin on her face.

" _I'll take that as a 'yes'."_ Church theorised, before he disappeared in a flash of light before reappearing next to the Teleporter control panel. _"You ladies said you were from Remnant, right?"_

"Yeah, Vale to be specific!" Yang confirmed as Church phased into the console before reappearing.

" _All right then, coordinates are set! It'll take a while before it fully loads. You might want to take this time to say goodbye..."_ Church explained before disappearing into the console again. Team RWBY nodded and turned to face the assembled Reds and Blues.

"Well, we didn't start off on the right track..." Carolina said, turning to face Yang in particular. "But you impressed me in the end, and that's all that matters."

"Yeah, you weren't so bad yourself." Yang chuckled, causing the Freelancer to awkwardly laugh as well.

"Thanks Wash," Ruby said, rushing up to trap the grey Freelancer in a hug, startling him. "For everything you did for us!"

"Err...thanks I think..." Wash replied as he gently pushed Ruby off of him.

"Well ladies!" Sarge said, causing the Huntresses to turn and face the red leader. "You may be young, but you sure do know how to kick ass!"

"Thank for the compliment." Ruby said nervously as she turned to face Grif and Simmons. "And by the way, Crescent Rose isn't a 'Scyther Rifle'! It's a High Caliber Sniper Scythe!"

"Huh?" Grif grunted as the conversation of their first meeting came back to him. "Oh right! Yeah we really don't care any more."

Ruby stuttered slightly at Grif's comment before sighing in defeat.

"Caboose." Weiss said, causing the blue soldier to turn and face her. "I can't believe I'm going to say this but...dammit I'll miss you!"

"Yeah!" Caboose replied in his usually complacent voice. "I have that effect on people!"

Weiss then swiftly grabbed Caboose and hugged him, startling all present. Especially the rest of RWBY. But nothing could prepare Weiss for Caboose returning the gesture, who quickly locked his arms around her lithe frame and squeezed tightly...perhaps too tightly.

"Someone...help me...please!" Weiss managed to say as Caboose continued to hug her. After fumbling for a few seconds, Team RWBY managed to release Caboose's grip on Weiss, causing the Heiress to gasp for air.

"Man, you sure do know how to hug!" Yang commented as Weiss continued to take sharp intakes of air. Not even Ruby reacted like that to one of her hugs!

"It's how I show affection!" Caboose replied, causing Tucker to nod his head in agreement.

"His Guinea Pig never stood a chance. Rest in Peace Mr. Fiddles..." Tucker solemnly said, lowering his head silently.

"Well Tucker, I guess this is it." Yang said as she strolled over to Tucker. "Wanna say any more disgusting pick-up lines before we leave?"

"That depends, will you rip my balls off?" Tucker asked, remembering Yang's threat from New Lincoln.

"I promise I won't rip your balls off." Yang reassured, rolling her eyes slightly as she remembered the New Lincoln incident.

"Let's see...you know, I always knew you weren't from here." Tucker finally said after a short silence, causing Yang to raise an eyebrow as she awaited the inevitable. "Because that ass is out of this world! Bow chick bow-"

Yang quickly kicked Tucker in the balls before he could finish his catchphrase, causing the aqua soldier to scream in pain as he collapsed on the floor.

"Okay...maybe I deserved that..." Tucker wheezed as he slowly rose from the floor.

"Well, we didn't get to speak much." Donut interrupted as he stepped forward slightly. "But I'm sure we would have had great pillow talk!"

" **Voy a todas borrar de mis bancos de memoria tan pronto como salga. (I'm going to delete you all from my memory banks as soon as you leave.)"** Lopez bluntly stated, knowing full well that not a single soul could understand him.

" _All right then!"_ Church interrupted, appearing above the console. _"Teleporter is all set, you girls ready?"_

Team RWBY looked at one another before looking at the A.I, nodding in confirmation.

" _Okay then, step onto the platform whenever you're ready."_

Team RWBY quickly walked onto the platform, making sure to take Torchwick's unconscious body with them, Yang tossing his body onto the platform unceremoniously.

" _Okay then, here it goes..."_ Church said as the Teleporter began to charge up, preparing to send the Huntresses and criminal to Vale.

"Good luck you guys!" Ruby shouted, waving her hand in farewell.

"Goodbye Lady Church!" Caboose shouted, waving erratically. "I'll never forget you!"

Suddenly, a beam of light engulfed the Huntresses and the criminal, once again blinding the Blood Gulch Crew. As the light died down, so too did the Temple core, the once abundant energy leaving its system for the last time.

"Who were those guys?" Caboose immediately asked, causing Tucker to groan in annoyance.

" **Espera, ¿por qué estamos aquí? (Wait, why are we here?)"**

 **00000000**

 **Vale Temple**

Team RWBY closed their eyes as the light enveloped them. When they felt the surge of energy around them die down, they opened their eyes to a familiar sight.

They were in a room that was nearly identical to the one on Chorus, yet that was not where they recognised it. They looked around, scorch marks and the signs of battle clearly present whilst behind them was a control panel that had been cleaved in two by a certain katana…

"Are we home?" Ruby asked, looking around for any sign of confirmation.

"I think so..." Weiss replied, looking up at the ceiling as the group strolled around slightly.

Already the Huntresses could feel their strength returning the more time passed. Weiss looked down at her injured leg, the cauterised wound already fading away. Yang and Blake looked at the many bruises and cuts that littered their body, some of them already disappearing. Ruby quickly felt her cheek, and no longer felt the cut on her face.

They were home.

Suddenly, the sound of multiple footsteps were heard approaching. Team RWBY quickly entered a combat position as the footsteps got closer. Suddenly, the doors opened, where they saw a sight they weren't expecting.

"Freeze Torchwick! By authority of the Atlas Military, you're-" The Atlesian soldier was cut off when he noticed he was aiming not at Roman Torchwick, but four Huntresses in training. The soldier turned to his partner and looked at one another in shock when they noticed Torchwick's crumpled form behind them, already handcuffed.

The sounds of heavy footsteps resounded behind them as none other then General Ironwood made his way forward, only to freeze at the sight before him.

"What in the world..." Ironwood muttered as he quickly composed himself.

"Looking for this by any chance?" Yang smirked as she tossed Torchwick forward, who grunted loudly as he regained consciousness.

He quickly shook his head as he realised he was no longer on Chorus, but was now staring at a rather angry General Ironwood. "Oh bugger..."

"Take this man back to the ship!" Ironwood quickly ordered, two of the soldiers walking forward and hefting Torchwick off the floor before guiding him away. "We're going to have a nice long chat about what the hell he was doing here!"

As Torchwick was led out the room, Ironwood turned to face the Huntresses, the surprised look having returned.

"Well ladies, I must say I'm impressed. You managed to not only find Torchwick before the Atlas Military, but you also managed to apprehend him as well." Ironwood stated, genuinely surprised by the fortunate turn of events.

"Thank, General." Weiss quickly replied, bowing slightly.

"Although I do have one question." Ironwood admitted, scratching the back of his head slightly. "What exactly happened?"

At that, Team RWBY looked at one another with sheepish looks on their face, before all four responded with the same answer.

"It's a long story..."

 **00000000**

 **Crash Site Alpha**

" **I cannot even begin to describe how disappointed I am with you, gentlemen!"** Hargrove raved as he glared at the two Mercenaries from the screen.

Both Locus and Felix looked at one another before turning to face the screen which displayed the face of Hargrove.

"We had an anomaly sir, it won't happen again." Locus replied, attempting to reassure his employer.

" **Really?! And remind me, what did this 'anomaly' come in the form of?"** Hargrove asked sarcastically, already well aware of the answer.

"Four teenage girls..." Locus silently replied, his calm composure stiffening slightly.

" **So you have both braved the might of the Alien Empire, and have survived confrontations that no normal man could survive, and you're telling me you were beaten by some school girls?!"** Hargrove summarised, his eyebrow raised in disbelief.

"They were a lot tougher than they looked!" Felix quickly butted in, attempting to defend his pride. "They could do stuff that shouldn't be possible..."

" **I must admit, when you first told me of these 'Huntresses', I was very intrigued by their special...abilities."** Hargrove admitted, locking his fingers together greedily. **"It was a shame you couldn't bring any of them back alive. Who knows what mysteries we may have unlocked..."**

"What do we do now, sir?" Locus asked, bringing Hargrove's attention back to the matter at hand. Chorus.

" **For now, complete your mission. We will have to discuss the matter of the 'Huntresses' another time."** Hargrove ordered, nodding slightly as his composure relaxed.

"That could be a while, we lost too many men at the Temple. They outnumber us vastly now." Felix added, causing Hargrove to hum to himself in consideration.

" **Do not worry Felix, your concerns have already been fixed."** Hargrove replied, causing the two Mercenaries to look at one another in confusion. **"I've redirected the UNSC Tartarus to your sector. I'm sure on board this vessel, you will find men more than happy to** **help in your mission..."**

"We'll get it done sir!" Locus replied, nodding as he spoke.

" **I hope so, for your sake..."**

 **00000000**

 **It's over! It's finally over! I hope you all enjoyed the last chapter of 'RWBY: The Chorus Chronicle'! I would just like to thank everyone who followed, favourited and/or reviewed this story! Whether you have been reading from the beginning, or just joined us recently, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. If you want to read more of my work, check out 'Reap What You Sow', a RWBY/Overwatch crossover. And remember how last week I mentioned I was going to start work on a new RWBY crossover? Here's a little hint as to what it's a crossover between…**

"The light you bring will die. The light inside you will die. All that you are will die. Ahaha… The children are here to play..."

 **Leave what you think the answer is in your reviews. The another clue will be given (along with the answer) in the next chapter of 'Reap What You Sow' which should be out Sunday. Either that or you'll find out next week for those that follow me.**

 **Raging Archon out, for the final time.**


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